LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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SALONS 

COLONIAL AND 
REPUBLICAN 



BY 
ANNE HOLLINGSWORTH 

WHARTON 

u 

WITH NUMEROUS REPRODUCTIONS OF 
PORTRAITS AND MINIATURES OF MEN 
AND WOMEN PROMINENT IN COLONIAL 
LIFE AND IN THE EARLY DAYS OF THE 
REPUBLIC 




PHILADELPHIA & LONDON 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 
1900 



TWO COPIES RECEIVED. 

L/brary of Cangrti% 
Offiee cf th« 

APR 7 - 1900 

lt(eKl«t«r of Copyrigkttf 







64508 

Copyright, igoo, by 
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY. 



FIRST COPY, 



%^*^3> 









PREFACE 



THE interest felt in Colonial life in 
America has become deep and wide- 
spread, nor does it show signs of 
abatement. Indeed, the subject is almost 
inexhaustible, if we include under the term 
" Colonial " the settlements along the northern 
borders of the United States and the no less 
picturesque Spanish mission-life of the Pacific 
slope. 

To treat in this volume of some phases of 
American life of a later date has been sug- 
gested to the writer by two or three incidents. 
While in W^ashington last spring, she had 
the pleasure of meeting several persons who 
distinctly remembered Mrs. Madison — the de- 
lightful " Dolly " — as she appeared in later 
years at a reception given by Mr. Webster in 
the house afterwards owned by Mr. Corcoran. 

Again, while standing before a picture of 
Stenton, which hangs upon the walls of the 
Historical Society of Pennsylvania, a lady 
entered the hall who recalled Mrs. Deborah 
Logan as she presided over her tea-table at 
Stenton, reviving pleasant impressions of the 
delectable crispness of the short-cakes which 



PREFACE 

the Quaker lady handed to her guests with a 
cup of tea, in her drawing-room, long before 
the fashion of afternoon tea prevailed in 
America. Another person, who was known 
to the writer in her childhood, delighted to 
relate to her grand-nieces a pleasing tale of 
being taken by her mother ta one of the 
windows of their home, which overlooked 
the State House in Philadelphia, and there 
being told to stand upon a chair and look at 
the tall gentleman who was entering the build- 
ing opposite, as she might never again see so 
great a man. The tall gentleman was His 
Excellency President "Washington, who for 
nearly seven years, while the new^ capital on 
the banks of the Potomac w^as in course of 
erection, walked from his house on High Street 
to the State House and Congress Hall, and in 
and out among these buildings. These hu- 
man links with a storied past lend a vividness 
and reality to the life of an earlier day that 
\vritten history fails to supply. It was with 
an idea of giving some of the recollections 
of those who could still recall incidents and 
persons in the early years of the fast fading 
century, that to the Colonial chapter of this 
book, and to those upon life in New York and 
Philadelphia soon after the Revolution, there 
have been added chapters upon the Federal 
City during the administrations of Adams, 
Jefferson, and Madison, and upon Philadelphia 
life during the brilliant social reign of Mrs. 
James Rush. 



PREFACE 

The word "salon" has been used to des- 
ignate the Republican dra\ving-rooms here 
described, because no other term so fitly repre- 
sents social circles presided over by cultivated 
women as that which was first applied to 
the brilliant coteries gathered together by the 
famous French women of the seventeenth 
century, who knew so well how to combine 
intellectual ability with womanly grace and 
charm. 

A. H. W. 

Birdwood, York Road, 

Philadelphia, November, 1899. 



vu 



I 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



¥ 



Page 

MRS. CHARLES AUGUSTUS MURRAY (Miss Elizabeth 
Wadsworth). From portrait by Thomas Sully, in posses- 
sion of Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Hopkinson, of Philadelphia, 
This panel portrait bears on the reverse the monogram 
"T. S." Frontispiece 

COLONEL WILLIAM RHETT, of Charleston, South Caro- 
lina. Miniature in possession of Mrs. Nephew West .... i8 

MRS. CHARLES WILLING (Anne Shippen). From original 
portrait by Robert Feke, in possession of her great-grand- 
son, Mr. Edward 'Willing, of Philadelphia. Dark hair and 
eyes, florid complexion ; gown of olive and black brocade . . 25 

MRS. ADAMS (Sarah Eve). From original miniature by Charles 
B. J. F. de Saint Memin, owned by her niece, Mrs. Anna L. 
Eve Stevenson 33 

COLONEL 'WILLIAM BRADFORD, born January ig, 1721 ; 
died September 15, 1791. Miniature owned by great-great- 
great-grandson, 'Willing Spencer, of Philadelphia 33 

LADY CATHERINE DUER (Catherine Alexander). From 
original miniature, owned by Mr. 'William Alexander Duer, 
of New York 40 

WILLIAM KING, first Governor of Maine. From original 

miniature in possession of Mr. Edv^ard King, of New York . 40 

COLONEL JEREMIAH WADSWORTH. From original 
crayon by James Sharpies, owned by Mr. Charles A. Brin- 
ley, of Philadelphia. The complexion delicate and fine ; the 
coat a dark blue 49 

LADY TEMPLE (Elizabeth Bowdoin). Portrait by John 
Singleton Copley, painted about the time of her marriage to 
Mr. Temple, afterwards Sir John Temple, owned by Mrs. 
'Winthrop Tappan 52 

M. PIERRE HENRI, of Paris. Miniature painted by himself, 
owned by his granddaughter, Mrs Edward Y. Townsend, of 
Philadelphia 62 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Page 
MRS. CHAUNCEY GOODRICH (Marianne Wolcott). From 
miniature by a S\vedish artist, owed by Mrs, Charles A. 
Brinley, of Philadelphia. Brilliant complexion, brown hair, 
through which a blue ribbon is tied ; blue gown of the same 
shade as the ribbon 62 

HENRY PRATT. Original portrait by Gilbert Stuart, owned 
by Mrs. Joshua Lippincott, of Philadelphia. Dark eyes, 
florid complexion ; powdered wig, red waistcoat ; red curtain 
in the background 73 

MRS. HENRY NIXON and MRS. JAMES MARSHALL, the 
daughters of Robert Morris. Portrait by Gilbert Stuart. 
Mr. Morris had ordered the picture and paid sixty guineas 
for it ; but when he ventured to make some criticism, Stuart 
was so angry that he cut the canvas and had the picture 
stowed away in his ov^rn garret. Mr. James Marshall after- 
wards bought the picture, at the original price, from Stuart 
or his daughter. It has been carefully restored and is now 
ov^^ned by the granddaughters of Mr. Marshall, the Misses 
Marshall of Happy Creek, Warren County, Virginia .... 97 

COLONEL JOHN COX, of Bloomsbury, New Jersey. Minia- 
ture owned by great-granddaughter, Miss Mary Clapier Coxe, 
of Philadelphia 108 

MAJOR-GENERAL ANTHONY WAYNE. From miniature 

by John Ramage, in possession of his great-grandson. Major ' 

William Wayne, of Paoli, Pennsylvania 108 L 

JUDGE WILLIAM BARTON. Portrait by Charles Willson 1 

Pes'i, owned by Dr. William Barton Hopkins, of Philadel- , 

phia no — i 

MRS. "WILLIAM BARTON (Elizabeth Rhea). Portrait of Mrs. 

Barton with her little daughter Betsy in her arms. Light t 

brown hair ; dark background, the gown of rich brocade or 
velvet of a delicate old-rose shade 113 

THE HONORABLE SAMUEL BRECK. From original por- 
trait painted in France by Loubet, in possession of grand- 
nephew, Mr. Charles du Pont Breck, of Scranton, Pennsyl- 
vania. Blue eyes and fair complexion. Mr. Breck is in court 
costume, ivith powdered hair ; his coat is of golden brown 
with large white buttons ; lace ruffles, white stock 138 

MR. and MRS. HENRY PHILIPS. Copied from miniatures by » 

Richard Cosway, owned by great-grandson. Colonel James 4 

Eglinton Montgomery, of Philadelphia. Both of these min- 
iatures are very beautiful in composition and color, with the 
background of blue sky and light clouds beloved by Cosway. 139 

xii <i 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Page 

MRS. WILLIAM BINGHAM (Anne Willing). From portrait 

by Stuart, owned by Countess Jacques de Bryas, of Paris . . X41 

MRS. W^ILLIAM BYRD, of Westover (Mary Willing), and 
daughter. From portrait by Cosmo Alexander, in possession 
of Mr. Edward Willing, of Philadelphia. Black hair, brown 
eyes, fair complexion ; white satin gown, the sleeves slashed 
with delicate pink satin. 

The child has brown eyes and fair hair, and wears a blue 
dress, with flowers and a blue cockade in the hair 145 

MRS. JOHN REDMAN COXE (Sarah Cox), Portrait by 
Thomas Sully, owned by Mrs. Edward Parke Custis Lewis, 
of Hoboken, New Jersey 168 

MRS. THOMAS LAW (Eliza Parke Custis). Portrait by Gil- 
bert Stuart, owned by Mrs. George Goldsborough, of Balti- 
more, granddaughter. This is one of the most beautiful of 
Stuart's portraits of \vomen, the flesh tints are fine, and the 
modelling of the face and arms is very good 174 

MRS. JOSEPH HOPPER NICHOLSON (Rebecca Lloyd). 
Original miniature by Richard Cosway, owned by Mrs. 
Edward Shippen, of Baltimore, granddaughter 187 

CHARLES HALL, of Sunbury, Pennsylvania. Miniature 
owned by the descendants of Mr. Hall. Fair complexion, 
blue eyes, light hair, powdered ; the coat is of a delicate 
shade of violet or mauve, and the white waistcoat is dotted 
o^fer vfith _fieurs-iie-fys of the aame shads of violet 187 

LADY ERSKINE (Frances Cadwalader). Portrait by Gilbert 
Stuart, owned by grand-nephew, Dr. Charles E. Cadwal- 
ader, of Philadelphia. Dark hair and eyes, delicate feat- 
ures ; simple white muslin gown, which contrasts wrell with 
the dark red background of the picture. This portrait was 
painted soon after Mrs. Erskine's marriage, when she was 
about eighteen years of age 195 

DR. JOHN BULLUS, U. S. N. Portrait by Gilbert Stuart, in 
possession of granddaughters. Miss BuUus and Mrs. Taylor, 
of New York 199 

MRS. JOHN BULLUS (Charlotte Jane Rumsey). Portrait by 
Gilbert Stuart, in possession of granddaughters, Miss Bullus 
and Mrs, Taylor of New York 200 

MRS. JAMES H. CALLANDER (Jane Erskine). Portrait 
among celebrated beauties in the King of Bavaria's gallery 
at Munich ac6 

MRS. JONATHAN DICKINSON SERGEANT. From original 
miniature, in possession of great-great-granddaughter, Mrs. 
John F. Hageman, Jr., of Philadelphia 214 



KlU 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Page 
MRS. ALEXANDER ROBINSON (Angelica Peale), From 
original miniature painted by her father, Charles Willson 
Peale 314 

MRS. BARNES (Priscilla Birch). Miniature on enamel, painted 
by her father, William Russell Birch, owned by Mr. Milton 
Birch, of Philadelphia, great-grandson of the artist 233 

MRS. CHARLES IREN^E du PONT (Dorcas Montgomery 
Van Dyke), of New Castle, Delaware. Portrait by Thomas 
Sully, owned by daughter. Miss Mary Van Dyke du Pont, of 
■Wilmington 227 

MRS. LANGDON CHEVES (Mary Elizabeth Dulles). Minia- 
ture by Edward Greene Malbone, in possession of niece. 
Miss Mary C. Dulles, of Philadelphia 239 

ISABEL BARRON, of Charleston, South Carolina. Miniature 
painted by Edward Greene Malbone, in 1806, cwned by Miss 
Augusta Bliss, of New York. The eyes and hair brown, 
the latter of a rich auburn shade, the complexion fair with 
a brilliant bloom on the cheeks ; the gown of deep red 
trimmed with black lace 339 

MR. and MRS. RICHARD DANA, of Boston. From original 
miniatures by Edward Greene Malbone, in possession of 
grandson, General Charles W. Darling, of Utica, New York. 
These miniatures are beautiful and delicate in color, espe- 
cially that of Mr. Dana. He wears a blue coat with fine 
lace ruffles. Mrs. Dana's gown is white with lace around 
the neck and a waistband of pale pink ribbon 331 

MR. and MRS. FRANCIS MARTIN DREXEL. These two 
miniatures were painted by Mr. Francis Martin Drexel and 
are owned by his daughter, Mrs. John G. Watmough, of 
Philadelphia 333 

"THE ANTWERP STRAWBERRIES," Susan and Phoebe 
Ann Ridgway. Portrait painted at Antwerp in 1805, owned 
by Mrs. Edward ^Villing, of Philadelphia 337 

DR. and MRS. JAMES RUSH. Miniatures owned by the Ridg- 
way Library Company, of Philadelphia 340 

THOMAS FISHBOURN WHARTON. From crayon portrait 
by Vander Lyn, the inscription being " Done by Vander Lyn, 
Paris, Prairial, Aug. 7, 1799." Original portrait in possession 
of Miss Susan Fishbourn Wharton 343 

MR. JAMES DUNDAS, of Philadelphia. Original portrait by 
Henry Inman, owned by niece, Mrs. Joshua Lippincott. 
Gray eyes, florid complexion, brown hair 347 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Page 

MRS. JAMES DUNDAS (Anna Pratt). Original portrait by 
Henry Inman, owned by Mrs. Joshua Lippincott. Dark blue 
eyes, light brown hair, fair complexion ; gown of Indian red 247 

MRS. JOHN JACOB RIDGWAY (Elizabeth Willing). From 

portrait by Alexandre Cabanel, of Paris 251 

MRS. JOHN WILLIAM W^ALLACE, of Philadelphia (Dorothy 
Francis Willing). From 'an original miniature by George 
Freeman, in her own possession. Delicate complexion, 
brown hair ; white gown 254 

MRS. JOHN BUTLER (Gabriella M. Morris), New York. Por- 
trait by George Freeman, in possession of Miss Adele Biddle, 
of Philadelphia. Brown eyes and hair, white gown with 
lace bertha 26a 

MRS. JAMES S. WADSWORTH (Mary Craig Wharton). 
From portrait by Thomas Sully, in possession of her son, 
Mr. Charles F. 'Wadsworth, of Geneseo, N. Y 263 

NICHOLAS BIDDLE, of Philadelphia. Original portrait by 
Thomas Sully, owned by his son, the Honorable Craig 
Biddle, of Philadelphia 267 

MRS. NICHOLAS BIDDLE (Jane M. Craig). Original portrait 
by Thomas Sully, owned by her son, the Honorable Craig 
Biddle. Eyes and hair dark, complexion florid; large hat 
with gray feathers, gown of salmon-colored silk, mantle of 
pinkish gray silk ; background sky effect with clear blue . . 269 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I Page 

A Colonial Salon . ii 



CHAPTER II 

Republican Drawing-Rooms .... 35 

CHAPTER III 

Life in the Quaker Capital 70 

CHAPTER IV 

Salons Gay and Grave 118 

CHAPTER V 

Life in the Federal City ...... 172 

CHAPTER VI 

An Early Art Centre ....... 210 

CHAPTER VII 

Mrs. Rush and Her Salon 235 

ix 



SALONS 

COLONIAL AND REPUBLICAN 



CHAPTER I. A COLONIAL SALON 

FOR some cause unknown to the mind 
of man, but better understood by those 
feminine processes that are said to take 
the place of the reasoning faculty in the other 
sex, it has always been the ambition and de- 
light of a certain class of superior w^omen to 
rule and shin-e in a social atmosphere some- 
what different from that of the conventional 
ball and dinner. 

In France this taste early found expression 
in the salon. At the Hotel de Rambouillet, la 
belle ArtM7iice and her daughter Julie gathered 
around them the gay and the wise of Paris, 
proving, in that pleasure-loving age and city, 
that even the frivolous could at times yield 
gracefully to the claims of learning and elo- 
quence. 

Here, at the bidding of the hostess, whose 
mandates none might disobey, Corneille and 
Moliere read their dramas, Voiture and Chape- 
lain recited their poems, or the ardent, inspired 
Bossuet preached a sermon to the gayest 
and the most critical hearers in Europe. 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Among the guests of Madame de Rambouillet, 
listening, and taking notes for her beloved 
daughter in the provinces that were destined 
to be read with delight by future generations, 
is Madame de Sevigne, and by her side the 
beautiful and witty Anne Genevieve de Bour- 
bon, Duchesse de Longueville, who conceals 
a yawn behind her fan and whispers to her 
neighbor that " Chapelain's • Z'?^^^//.? ' is doubt- 
less a very beautiful poem, but also very 
tiresome," or admits that the productions of 
the great Conde, who sometimes courted the 
Muses, were "bad for a poet, but fairly good 
for a warrior." 

The London salon of a later date, which 
was an adaptation from the French, always 
possessed certain Anglo-Saxon characteristics, 
and if less graceful, charming, and epigram- 
matic than that of Paris, was marked by 
deeper thought and perhaps by greater sincer- 
ity. Mrs. Montague, and other members of 
the Blue Stocking Club, held salons that were 
deemed not unworthy of the presence and 
conversation of Dr. Johnson and his literary 
confreres. These reunions of the literati of 
London were largely dominated by the auto- 
cratic lexicographer, w^hose gentle hostesses 
were ever ready to welcome him w^armly and 
give him a comfortable place by the fire, in 
which to imbibe his innumerable cups of tea 
and to utter for the edification of the company 
his dogmatic, racy strictures upon the world 
and the inhabitants thereof. 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Although no salon could have been held in 
the New W^orld that in any degree approached 
these brilliant circles in Paris and London, 
there were not a few^ clever women in Colonial 
life, lovers of good literature and, especially 
in the Northern and Middle Colonies, women 
who wielded ready pens, like Mrs. Simon 
Bradstreet, Mrs. James V/arren, Mrs. John 
Adams, Mrs. Richard Stockton, and Elizabeth 
Graeme. It is not strange that the idea of a 
salon, of drawing together men and women 
of learning and conversational powers, should 
have suggested itself to the active and intelli- 
gent mind of Elizabeth Graeme, and that she 
should have gathered around her a circle of 
choice spirits at her father's home in Philadel- 
phia and at his country-seat, Graeme Park, in 
Montgomery County. 

Elizabeth Graeme, better know^n as Mrs. 
Hugh Ferguson,* was during the latter half 
of the last century easily the most learned 
w^oman in America. A chronicler of the pe- 
riod says : " A mind like hers, imbued with 

* Although a fac-simile of the signature of Elizabeth 
Ferguson shows that she •wrote her name Fergusson, the 
above spelling is used by contemporary historians. Mrs. 
Ferguson is the "Cat Ferguson" at whose expense Dr. 
Mitchell's "Aunt Gainor " so frequently sharpened her 
wits. It is only fair to say that the author of " Hugh 
Wynne " has availed himself of a novelist's privilege and 
drawn a fanciful character, as Mrs. Ferguson was a 
woman of lovable and gentle nature, despite her keen wit 
and marked personality. 

13 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

elegant literature, and herself a poetess, readily 
formed frequent literary coteries at her father's 
mansion ; so much so, as to make it the town- 
talk of her day." 

Dr. Thomas Graeme was a leading physi- 
cian and a man who held important positions 
in the government, while his wife, a step- 
daughter of Sir W^illiam Keith, Governor of 
Pennsylvania, had been reared in such luxury 
and refinement as the English life of her day 
afforded. A woman " possessed of a masculine 
mind, with all the female charms and accom- 
plishments which render a woman agreeable 
to both sexes," Mrs. Thomas Graeme was 
described by an acute and discriminating ob- 
server of the time, to which it may be added, 
upon the authority of another writer, that she 
was deeply religious and devoted to all that 
was best in life and character. Young Francis 
Hopkinson, while upon a visit to Graeme Park, 
dedicated one of his earliest poetic efforts to 
a description of this lady's lovely and noble 
qualities. It is not, ho\vever, as an austere 
saint that Mrs. Graeme appears upon the pages 
of Colonial history. From her own letters, 
and from the descriptions of contemporaries, 
she seems to have been a warm-hearted, affec- 
tionate woman, loving her kind, and possessing 
the power, which her daughter inherited from 
her, of gathering around her certain choice 
spirits whom she elected as her associates. 

In speaking of the Graemes and their country 
home in Montgomery County, Dr. Benjamin 

14 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Rush said : " This retreat was, moreover, con- 
secrated to society and friendship. A plentiful 
table was spread daily for visitors, and two 
or three ladies from Philadelphia generally 
partook with Miss Graeme of the enjoyments 
which her situation in the country afforded." 
Mrs. Graeme, like her daughter, possessed 
a certain facility for verse-making, although 
she lacked the delicate fancy and nimble wit 
that characterize some of Elizabeth Graeme's 
writings, perhaps because the older w^oman's 
Muse was of a chastened and religious nature. 
Religion was then considered the only proper 
sphere for women in literature, no matter 
what frivolous or even naughty verses the 
Dean of St. Patrick's or Mr. Pope might be 
writing at the same time in England. 

Although Mr. Joshua Francis Fisher wrote 
of Elizabeth Graeme's poems that " she can- 
not be said to be a favorite of the Muses, 
and her lines are not perfumed with that ' fra- 
grant nectar' which those divinities are said 
to sprinkle over the verses of their friends," 
some of these lines possess a grace and charm 
found in few women's poems of the period. To 
the small circle of her own city. Miss Graeme 
^vas known through her contributions to the 
Pennsylvania Packet and the Columbia Magazine. 
Her most extensive work was the translating 
of Fenelon's Aventures de Tde'maque into Eng- 
lish verse, which was undertaken when the 
translator was about twenty-one years of 
age. This translation of Tdimaque was never 

IS 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

published, but the manuscript, carefully pre- 
served, is in the possession of the Philadelphia 
Library Company, a lasting memorial to the 
industry and intelligence of this remarkable 
young woman. Instead of the classic French 
of the Abbe, " Calypso ne pouvait se consoler du 
dipart d' Ulysse,"" with its picture of the dis- 
tracted Goddess roaming the shores of her 
island home in the hope of the return of the 
beloved wanderer, \ve read in Miss Graeme's 
manuscript volumes the following lines : 

" No dawn of comfort could Calypso find, 
No balm to soften her distracted mind ; 
Eternal hope her tortured bosom pain'd, 
And immortality her anguish chain'd. 
A length of years appeared a train of woe; 
A dreadful channel for her griefs to flow. 
Ulysses gone, no place affords delight, 
The absent Hero haunts her anxious Sight : 
Her voice Mellifluous echo'd not around. 
No floating air returned the silver sound." 

Whatever may be the faults of Miss Graeme's 
translation of Td^maque, it must be admit- 
ted that there were few women in America, 
or even in England, who would have at- 
tempted such a work, or who, having under- 
taken it, could have succeeded half as well. In 
1764, when about twenty-five years of age, 
it was Miss Graeme's good fortune to spend 
a year in England under the care of the Rev. 
Richard Peters, rector of the united parishes 
of Christ Church and St. Peter's. In speaking 
of the advantages which the American girl 

x6 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

enjoyed during her sojourn in the Old World, 
Dr. Rush wrote : " She was accompanied by 
the Rev. Dr. Richard Peters, of Philadelphia, 
a gentleman of highly polished manners, and 
whose rank enabled him to introduce her to 
the most respectable circles of company. She 
sought, and was sought for by, the most cele- 
brated literary gentlemen who flourished in 
England at the time of the accession of George 
the Third to the throne. She was introduced 
to this monarch, and particularly noticed by 
him. The celebrated Dr. Fothergill, whom 
she consulted as a physician, became her 
friend and correspondent as long as she lived." 

While abroad, Miss Graeme visited Scot- 
land, where she was warmly welcomed by 
her father's relatives. Dr. Graeme's nephew, 
Thomas Graeme, of Balgowan, gave his young 
American cousin the family coat-of-arms, and 
with it his own book-plate. This book-plate 
is to be found in some of Elizabeth Graeme's 
books, and is probably the first book-plate 
used by a woman in America. 

In London Miss Graeme numbered among 
her friends the Honorable Thomas Penn and 
his wife, Lady Juliana Penn, both of whom 
had sho^vn their interest in the advancement 
of learning in Pennsylvania by sending gifts 
to a circulating library at Lancaster.* The 

* From the records of this circulating library at Lancas- 
ter, established in 1759, to which Governor Hamilton, the 
Rev. Thomas Barton, Edward Shippen, and Judge William 
Henry gave generously of their means, it appears that 
2 17 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

introductions which Miss Graeme enjoyed 
through her friendship with the Penns, Sir 
John Fothergill, and the Rev. Richard Peters 
gave her an entree to many interesting circles 
abroad. It is to be regretted that her diary, 
w^ritten for the entertainment of her parents 
and friends at home, has not been preserved. 
Dr. Benjamin Rush, in speaking of this record, 
w^hich it had been his privilege to read, said 
that it contained life-like and spirited pictures 
of personages and places, such as could only 
emanate from the mind and the pen of an in- 
telligent and impressionable traveller. Por- 
traits of some members of the famous " Blue 
Stocking Club " were doubtless sketched upon 
the pages of this diary, which w^as so eagerly 
looked for by Dr. and Mrs. Graeme in their 
Philadelphia home. Dr. Johnson himself may 
have been described by the young American, 
and Sir Joshua and Garrick and the great 
Burke, then a young man. A spirited account 
of Elizabeth Graeme's meeting with Laurence 
Sterne has come down to us from the pen of 
Dr. Rush, who said : " An accident attached 

Thomas Penn and his wife, Lady Juliana, daughter of the 
Earl of Fermor, made a donation of books, globes, and as- 
tronomical apparatus. In testimony of the gratitude of 
the founders to this patroness the association was named 
The Juliana Library Company in Lancaster, and to further 
signify the honor in which this early patroness w^as held, 
the quaint seal of the company bears the figure of Minerva 
leading an illiterate person with one hand, while with the 
other she points to a shelf of books and a pair of globes. 

x8 




Colonel William Rhett 
Page 224 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

the sentimental and then popular author of 
* Tristram Shandy ' to her. She took a seat on 
the same stage with him at the York races. 
While bets were making on different horses, 
she selected a small horse that ■was in the 
rear of the coursers as the subject of a trifling 
wager. Upon being asked the reason for do- 
ing so, she said that the ' race w&s not always 
to the s^wift, nor the battle to the strong.' 
Mr. Sterne, who stood near to her, was struck 
with this reply, and turning hastily towards 
her, begged for the honor of her acquaint- 
ance. They soon became sociable, and a 
great deal of pleasant conversation took place 
between them, to the great entertainment of 
the surrounding company." 

Although we have not the advantage of 
reading the notes taken by Miss Graeme 
abroad, it is quite evident that the literary 
gatherings to which she w^as introduced in 
London made a deep impression upon her 
mind, for soon after her return we find her 
presiding over a smaller circle in her own city 
modelled after the English fashion. This was 
after the death of Mrs. Graeme, when Dr. 
Graeme and his daughter were living in a large 
house on the north side of Chestnut Street 
above Sixth, which had been built by Joshua 
Carpenter for a country residence. This house, 
with its large garden reaching from Sixth to 
Seventh and from Chestnut to High Street, 
was the home of Governor Thomas from 1738 
to 1747. It is quaintly recorded that the Gov- 

19 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

ernor's lady, with a kindly feeling for the boys 
in the neighborhood who cast longing looks 
towards her fine cherry-trees which overhung 
the sidewalk on Chestnut Street, sometimes 
allowed them to help themselves to the fruit, 
which was certainly as politic as it was gen- 
erous. She also, upon June days when her 
roses were in bloom, frequently indulged the 
pretty girls who strolled past her garden with 
fragrant nosegays. Mr. John Ross afterwards 
lived in this house, and although it was within 
a square of the State House, his wife deemed 
it too remote for their family to live in. Here, 
despite the remoteness of her residence, Eliza- 
beth Graeme gathered about her the best ele- 
ments of the Philadelphia life of her day. Dr. 
Benjamin Rush, who was a literary man as 
^vell as a physician of distinguished ability, de- 
lighted in the society of Dr. Thomas Graeme 
and his daughter, and was a constant habitui 
of their house. To the versatile ready pen of 
this writer we are indebted for a description of 
this earliest American salon and of its presid- 
ing genius : 

" In her father's family she [Miss Graeme] 
now occupied the place of her mother. She 
kept his house and presided at his table and 
fireside in entertaining all his company. Such 
was the character of Dr. Graeme's family for 
hospitality and refinement of manners that 
all strangers of note who visited Philadel- 
phia were introduced to it. Saturday even- 
ings were appropriated, for many years during 

20 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Miss Graeme's winter residence in the city, 
for the entertainment, not only of strangers, 
but of such of her friends of both sexes as 
were considered the most suitable company 
for them. These evenings were, properly 
speaking, of the Attic kind. The genius of 
Miss Graeme evolved the heat and light that 
animated them. . . . She soon discovered, 
by the streams of information she poured 
upon her friends, that she had been ' all eye, 
all ear, and all grasp ' during her visit to 
Great Britain. . . . One while she instructed 
by the stores of knowledge contained in the 
historians, philosophers, and poets of ancient 
and modern nations, which she called forth 
at her pleasure; and again she charmed by 
a profusion of useful ideas, collected by her 
vivid and widely expanded imagination, and 
combined with exquisite taste and judgment 
into an endless variety of elegant and de- 
lightful forms. Upon these occasions her 
body seemed to evanish, and she appeared 
to be all mind. ... It was at one of these 
evening parties she first saw Mr. Henry 
Hugh Ferguson, a handsome and accom- 
plished young gentleman, who had lately ar- 
rived in this country from Scotland. They 
w^ere suddenly pleased with each other. Pri- 
vate interviews soon took place between them, 
and in the course of a few months they were 
married. The inequality of their ages (for he 
was ten years younger) was opposed in a cal- 
culation of their conjugal happiness by the 

21 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

sameness of their attachment to books, retire- 
ment, and literary society." 

Dr. Rush's pleasant augury with regard to 
the married life of Elizabeth Ferguson ■was 
not destined to be realized, as the ill-assorted 
union proved most unhappy, and as a climax 
to the sorrows of this woman, who was cap- 
able of writing good poetry herself, a versifier 
of the time penned some wretched lines upon 
her marriage : 

*' Can the muse that laments the misfortune of love 
Draw a shade o'er the sorrowful tale, 
That Laura was cheated and fully could prove 
That Scotchmen have honor that sometimes may fail ? 
****** 
" For pastoral changed to the tragedy style, 
And taught a hard lesson too late ; 
Though the rashness of youth in its folly may smile, 
Yet in tears must submit to its fate." 

Laura was the pseudonym under which 
Miss Graeme carried on a rhymed correspond- 
ence, half gay, half serious, with the Rev. 
Nathaniel Evans, who was evidently deeply 
in love with his fair correspondent. It was in 
this merry war of words, especially in certain 
verses addressed to "The Country Parson," 
that she revealed the brilliancy of her mind 
and the delicacy of her wit. Many sorrow^s 
overtook the later years of Elizabeth Fergu- 
son in consequence of her uncongenial mar- 
riage, and the unfortunate position in which 
she placed herself, during the War of the Rev- 
olution, by allowing herself to act as an inter- 
mediary between Governor Johnstone, a Brit- 

22 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

ish Commissioner, and General Joseph Reed, 
of the Continental Army, with regard to a ces- 
sation of hostilities. By those who knew^ her 
best, Mrs, Ferguson has been estimated as a 
woman of elevated and unselfish character, 
who acted, whether wisely or unw^isely, ac- 
cording to the dictates of her conscience. Hers 
was a nature cast in a less heroic mould than 
were those of her sister poetesses, Mercy 
Warren and Annis Stockton, both of whom 
•were ardently patriotic, as were Mrs. John 
Adams, Mrs. David Bell,* Mrs. Philip 
Schuyler, Mrs. Clement Biddle, and many 
other ^vomen who, like Elizabeth Ferguson, 
had been reared amid English ideas and stand- 
ards and with a certain love and loyalty for 
the mother country. The position taken by 
Mrs. Ferguson seems to have been prompted 
by her great sensibility and her sympathy for 
those who were suffering from a war that, as 
she thought, was desolating her country, rather 
than by any sentiment of loyalty toward Great 
Britain. She later sho-wed her patriotism and 
kindness of heart by ministering to the soldiers 
in her neighborhood, and when General Howe 

* Mrs. David Bell, Judith Gary, like Mrs. John Adams, 
was a woman of decided and advanced opinions. When 
the Virginia Convention was passing laws for the govern- 
ment of the State, she spoke and wrote to her brother, 
Colonel Archibald Cary, and other leading members of the 
Convention, in favor of abolishing primogeniture and of the 
disestablishment of the Church. This position Mrs. Bell 
stoutly maintained, although she was an aristocrat by 
birth and association and a devout churchwoman. 

23 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

was in possession of Philadelphia she sent a 
quantity of linen, spun with her o'wn hands, for 
the use of the American soldiers who had been 
taken prisoners at the battle of Germantown. 

In the loneliness and sorrow that came to 
her in after years, Elizabeth Ferguson must 
often have turned back in thought to the gold- 
en days of her youth, when in London she 
enjoyed the society of the most brilliant men 
and women of the time, or in her father's 
house gathered around her a circle of devoted 
and admiring friends. When Dr. Benjamin 
Rush became one of the most eminent of 
American physicians and Francis Hopkinson 
gained an enviable reputation as a writer and 
political satirist, she could recall with pride 
the days w^hen these and many other noted 
men had surrounded her, deeming her conver- 
sation one of their choicest pleasures, while 
young Nathaniel Evans dedicated verses to her, 
his Laura, like another poet of an earlier time. 

The Philadelphia of Elizabeth Graeme's day 
was a suitable place in which to hold the first 
American salon of which there exists any rec- 
ord, as no other Colonial town contained so 
large a number of literary and scientific men 
as did this Quaker City. 

In addition to Dr. Franklin's "ingenious 
friends," who assisted' him in his scientific 
experiments, there was another circle in Phila- 
delphia which represented what may be looked 
upon as the liberal education of that day, 
chiefly composed of men of fortune and posi- 

24 




Mrs. Charles Willing 

By Robert Feke 

Page 29 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

tion who had enjoyed the advantages of early 
education and whose tastes were literary. 
This group included such men as Tench Fran- 
cis, who is described as a " bon vivant, a wit, 
and a man of talent," Dr. William Shippen, 
"William Allen, Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, 
the Rev. Richard Peters, Charles Willing, the 
Hamiltons, father and son, Dr. Thomas Cad- 
walader, and the Bond brothers, Thomas and 
Phineas. Most of these men were classical 
scholars; many of them had been educated 
abroad. 

Philadelphia, despite an admixture of Scotch, 
Irish, and German in its population, was more 
distinctly English in its characteristics than 
any other Colonial city. With its two strongly 
contrasting elements, the English Quaker 
and the English Churchman, it presented 
sharper and more notable contrasts than ex- 
isted elsewhere, because both of these ele- 
ments were represented in the government, 
the church party here acquiring power and ad- 
vancement more rapidly than in Puritan Ne-w 
England. Between these two parties little 
love was lost, and although no persecution for 
conscience' sake darkens the fair pages of the 
history of the Province of Pennsylvania, some 
acrimonious remarks are to be found in diaries 
and letters of leading Friends upon "the hot 
church party," and " the church party with its 
packed vestry," while William Penn, in one of 
his letters to James Logan, speaks of "two as 
gaudy and costly Common Prayer Books as the 

25 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Queen has in her chapel and a fine commun- 
ion table," designed for Christ Church, both 
of which, he says, "charms the baby in the 
Bishop of London as well as Parson Evans." 

These remarks were returned with no less 
acrimony by the church people, we may be 
sure ; but however these two opposing fac- 
tions may have differed upon questions of 
government or religion, they united in their 
desire to advance science and learning and to 
educate the youth of Pennsylvania. Conse- 
quently we find, appended to Dr. Franklin's 
" Proposals " for a college, the names of such 
eminent Friends as James Logan, an old man 
in 1749, of Robert Strettell, a man of affairs 
as well as a scholar who had taken a promi- 
nent position in the much discussed question 
of representation in the Assembly of the Prov- 
ince of those who were opposed to the bearing 
of arms, and of Dr. Lloyd Zachery, side by side 
with the signatures of Tench Francis, William 
Allen, Thomas White, father of the Bishop of 
the same name, John Inglis, Joseph Turner, 
and other churchmen. Most of these gentle- 
men proved the catholicity of their spirits by 
taking a leading part in founding the City Danc- 
ing Assembly about the same time. The fact 
that men of learning and influence, many of 
them classical scholars, united with Franklin 
in founding the College of Philadelphia seems 
to answer the question asked more than once, 
" How was it that the academy which Franklin 
was so active in establishing should have been 

26 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

from the first, to a great extent, a classical 
institution, his own views having been in favor 
of a more practical course ? " Franklin himself 
wrote that he submitted his views to some of 
his friends, who concurred with him, adding, 
"but Mr. Allen, Mr. Francis, Mr. Peters, and 
some other persons of wealth and learning, 
whose subscriptions and countenance we 
should need, were of the opinion that it ought 
to include the learned languages." 

Knowing well that wealth and social in- 
fluence would inevitably tip the balance when 
placed in the scales against even so good a 
counter opinion as his own, the shrewd 
Franklin tactfully yielded to the more pow^er- 
ful claims of his colleagues. 

Men of scholarly tastes and classical attain- 
ments were always to be found among Friends 
from the days of Thomas Lloyd and James 
Logan to later times, when Charles Thomson 
helped the students of the College of Phila- 
delphia to climb the rocky hill of learning 
contained between the covers of the Latin 
grammar, and John Dickinson penned his 
learned treatises upon liberal government. 

In addition to English scholars among 
Friends and worldlings, Scotch learning was 
represented by James Wilson, the distin- 
guished advocate, who later impressed him- 
self upon the Constitution of the United 
States, and by Mr. John Beveridge, who taught 
a grammar school in Edinburgh and in Hart- 
ford, Connecticut, before he was invited to 

27 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Philadelphia to conduct a private Latin school 
in that city. Mr. Beveridge, like Mr. James 
David Dove, Thomas Makin, and other in- 
structors of youth, sometimes welcomed the 
visits of the Muse of Poetry. Another learned 
Scotchman was Dr. Francis Alison, vice-pro- 
vost and rector of the Academy of Phila- 
delphia, a Presbyterian divine, upon w^hose 
preaching John Adams occasionally attended, 
at his church on High Street, at the corner 
of Bank, sometimes called the Buttonwood 
Church, on account of the large trees of that 
variety surrounding it. John Adams seems to 
have been generously catholic in his church- 
going, as he wrote to his wife of pleasant 
excursions into the Episcopal churches, where 
he confessed to hearing "better prayers, better 
speaking, softer, sweeter music," and seeing 
" genteeler company " than elsewhere. Upon 
another occasion Mr. Adams spoke of stroll- 
ing into the " mother church, or rather the 
grandmother church," as he filially denom- 
inated the Romish Chapel of St. Joseph's, 
still standing among the high buildings and 
narrow^ streets of the business part of Phila- 
delphia. 

It is a significant fact that a city, which led 
the Colonies in literature, science, and phi- 
lanthropy, should have possessed two such 
printers as Benjamin Franklin and William 
Bradford. Although these men were industri- 
ous and skilful craftsmen who were proud of 
their honest calling, they both set out in life 

28 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

to be much more than printers. Franklin's 
talents and avocations were so varied that 
they defy all attempt at classification, while 
"William Bradford was a publisher as well as 
printer, a scholar, a discriminating lover of 
literature, and, like Franklin, an ardent patriot. 
In the Franklin family the printing trade does 
not seem to have been hereditary, while Brad- 
ford belonged to a family of printers and 
publishers. His grandfather. Colonel William 
Bradford, was the first printer in the Middle 
Colonies, while his maternal great-grandfather 
was Andrew Sowle, an eminent printer and 
publisher of London in the time of Charles the 
First and during the Restoration. 

Standing in the background of this life, as 
became the well-bred woman of that day, 
yet wielding an important influence in social 
matters, were such capable w^omen as Mrs. 
Thomas Hopkinson, whose letters give evi- 
dence of superior mind and character, Mrs. 
William Plumsted, and Mrs. Joseph Shippen, 
once pretty Jane Galloway of Maryland, who 
in a picturesque gown and gay hat has come 
dow^n to this generation from the brush of 
Benjamin West. Here, also, holding a promi- 
nent place in the social life of Philadelphia as 
wife of its Mayor, in days when that office 
was filled by gentlemen of position and stand- 
ing, was Mrs. Charles Willing. Mrs. Willing 
was a daughter of Joseph and Abigail Shippen, 
and in 1731 became the wife of Charles "Will- 
ing, who had emigrated to Philadelphia from 

29 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Bristol, England. Mr. Willing filled the posi- 
tion of mayor in 1748 and again in 1754, when 
he died of ship fever, contracted while in the 
discharge of his official duties. Charles "Will- 
ing was universally respected and esteemed 
as a public officer and as a merchant, being 
associated with his brother Thomas in one 
of the leading mercantile houses of the day. 
Mr. Willing was one of the founders of the 
College of Philadelphia and of the Dancing 
Assembly, and we find Mrs. Willing spoken 
of at one of the earlier meetings of this festive 
circle, in English fashion, as " the Mayoress." 
Her portrait by Robert Feke represents a hand- 
some young matron of much dignity and force 
of character, arrayed, as became her position 
in social life, in the fashion of the gay world 
of her time, her rich brocade being w^orn over 
a high and somewhat exaggerated hoop. 

Mrs. Charles Willing, Mrs. Thomas Hop- 
kinson, and Mrs. Joseph Shippen, like Mrs. 
Ferguson, belonged to the Church of England 
circle in Philadelphia, and doubtless were 
present at the literary lady's reunions. Un- 
fortunately, Dr. Rush, in describing these 
meetings at Mrs. Ferguson's, was so wanting 
in the reportorial spirit of a later day that he 
failed to give a full list of the names of those 
who assisted at this " feast of reason and flow 
of soul." 

A charming girl w^ho must have entered into 
the enjoyment of Mrs. Ferguson's evenings 
with all the enthusiasm of youth and her own 

30 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

exceptionally bright mind was Miss Sarah 
Eve, who was an intimate friend of the Rush 
family. Like Elizabeth Ferguson, this young 
lady kept a diary for the entertainment of her 
family, especially for that of her father. Cap- 
tain Oswald Eve, who, being a sea-captain, 
was away from home for months at a time. 
By some happy fortune. Miss Eve's spirited 
chronicle of the small happenings and gossip 
of the little circle in which she lived has been 
preserved, to give to men and women of to- 
day the color, atmosphere, and such fleeting 
lights and shadows of that life as are only 
to be gained from the pen-pictures of vivid 
impressionists. Although Miss Eve's parents 
had been married in Christ Church, and she 
was herself a regular attendant of the English 
Church, her visiting in Philadelphia seems to 
have been chiefly among the Quaker aristoc- 
racy, and this despite the fact that her red 
hair was " always fashionably dressed and her 
appearance very stately." In consequence, 
probably, of her stately appearance Miss Eve 
w^as accused of being " too proud ; " but al- 
though so keenly alive to the humorous side 
of life as to have been at times in danger of 
making enemies, Sarah Eve seems to have 
been singularly free from pride or vanity. 

From her home, a country place situated 
upon a wooded stream which fed a mill-dam 
near Fifth and Thompson Streets, Miss Eve 
made many pleasant excursions to Rocky 
Point, Mr. Thomas Clifford's country-seat on 

31 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

the Delaware, and to the Guests' place on 
the New Jersey side of the river. Miss Anna 
Clifford and Betsey and Amelia Guest were 
Sarah Eve's most intimate friends ; and in her 
diary she tells of visits to them in their Phila- 
delphia homes, as well as to Betsy Rush, 
Taby Fisher, Deby Mitchell, and Amy Horner, 
often remaining overnight, unexpectedly, in 
true girl fashion. 

Miss Eve sometimes illustrated her remarks 
with quotations from the books that she had 
been reading, which included " ' The Fashion- 
able Lover,' a prodigious fine comedy -wrote 
by Cumberland," the poems of Thomas God- 
frey, an early Philadelphia poet, and " The 
Adventures of the Renowned Don Quixote." 
The latter work, she finds herself in an ex- 
cellent humor to enjoy, lying in a fine soft bed, 
while " Miss Bets " (Betsy Rush) is sitting up 
in the parlor with her lover, Captain Bethel. 

Reading this young girl's chronicle of the 
life of her day, the people whom she met, 
and her own clever, pungent observations upon 
both, we fail to wonder that Benjamin Rush 
lost his heart to the fair chronicler. Through 
the simple record of daily happenings, the 
junketings and the visits, the arrival in the 
Province of Governor John Penn, and, evi- 
dently no less important to Miss Eve, that of 
Mrs. Smith's new baby, there runs the fine 
thread of a love-story. Wherever Miss Eve 
was drinking tea. Dr. Rush seems to have 
happened in, either to enjoy the sociable meal 

32 




Mrs. Adams (Sarah Eve) 
By Saint Memin 



>-ja«-iS22?; 




Colonel William Kradfiml 
Page 28 



I 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

with the gay little circle, or later in the evening 
for a chat, or a moonlight stroll with the young 
ladies to the Mineral Spring at Sixth and 
Chestnut Streets. 

Once, when Miss Eve and her mother had 
been ill for several days, Dr. Rush called upon 
them and expressed surprise and regret that 
he had not been informed of the state of affairs. 
Being aware of the good Doctor's propensity 
for bleeding upon all occasions, we are con- 
scious of a feeling of relief that he did not ap- 
pear upon the scene until the cases required no 
more severe treatment than " for mama some 
powders and me some elixir, which we think," 
says Miss Eve, " have been of service to both. 
Are we not blest with the best of friends ? " 

The romance of these two brilliant young 
people w^as not destined to reach the climax of 
a happy marriage, as Sarah Eve died in De- 
cember, 1774, just three weeks before the date 
named for her wedding.* In a sketch entitled 

* Among St. Memin's portraits is one of Sarah Eve. 
The quaint, charming little face does not, hovrever, repre- 
sent the diarist, Sarah Eve, of the last century, but a niece 
who was named after her. This Miss Eve was born in 
or near Charleston, South Carolina, in 1783, and, oddly 
enough, married an Irish gentleman named Adams. While 
travelling abroad with his wife, Mr. Adams died. On her 
return voyage, during the War of 18 12, the American ship 
in which Mrs. Adams had sailed was taken by the British 
and she was carried to Halifax as a prisoner of war. Mrs. 
Adams was, of course, released, and after a tedious jour- 
ney was restored to her father, who was then living in 
Georgia. 

3 33 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

" A Female Character," which appeared in 
the Pennsylvania Packet a few days later, Dr. 
Rush paid a glowing tribute to the lovely and 
noble character of his fiancee, whom he classed 
among the " first order of beings." 

Dr. Rush was fortunate in having numbered 
among his intimate friends two of the " first 
order of beings," Elizabeth Ferguson and Sa- 
rah Eve ; but alas for the constancy of man ! 
— he soon discovered a third being of this 
superlative order in the person of Miss Julia 
Stockton, of New Jersey, whom he married 
two years after the death of Miss Eve. 



34 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 



CHAPTER II. REPUBLICAN DRAWING- 
ROOMS 

IN New York the social etiquette of the first 
administration, as well as much of the 
policy of the new government, was out- 
lined. A small matter, it may seem to us 
to-day, to know how the President and Mrs. 
W^ashington were to receive their guests, and 
whether they were expected to make calls 
upon the families of cabinet members and 
strangers, or only to receive at stated times 
when called upon. Yet these questions were 
of moment, and it ■was with an earnest de- 
sire to conduct his life in accordance with his 
high position that the President propounded 
the following questions to the Vice-President, 
Mr. Adams, to Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Jay, and 
Mr. Madison : 

" Whether, after a little time, one day in 
every v^reek w^ill not be sufficient for receiving 
visits of compliment ? 

•' Whether, w^hen it shall have been under- 
stood that the President is not to give enter- 
tainments in the manner the presidents of 
Congress have formerly done, it will be prac- 
tical to draw such a line of discrimination, in 
regard to persons, as that six, eight, or ten 
official characters, including in rotation the 
members of both houses of Congress, may be 

35 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

invited, personally or otherwise, to dine with 
him on the days fixed for receiving company, 
without exciting clamors in the rest of the 
community ? 

" Whether it would be satisfactory to the 
public for the President to make about four 
great entertainments in a year, on such great 
occasions as the Anniversary of the Dec- 
laration of Independence, the Alliance with 
France, the Peace with Great Britain, the 
Organization of the General Government; 
and whether arrangements of these two last 
kinds could be in danger of diverting too 
much of the President's time from business, 
or of producing the evils which it ^vas in- 
tended to avoid by his living more recluse 
than the presidents of Congress have hitherto 
lived ? 

" W^hether there would be any impropriety 
in the President's making informal visits ; that 
is to say, in his calling upon his acquaintances 
or public characters for the purpose of socia- 
bility or civility ? And what, as to the form of 
doing it, might evince these visits to have been 
made in his private character, so as that they 
may not be construed into visits from the 
President of the United States ? And in what 
light would his visits rarely at tea-parties be 
considered ? " 

To these questions Mr. Adams replied with 

all seriousness, that no visits of ceremony 

were to be required of the President and his 

wife, nor were large entertainments to be ex- 

36 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

pected of them. Certain days and hours were 
to be set apart for the reception of visitors. 
These receptions, Mr. Adams thought, should 
■ be conducted with some form and ceremony, 
application to be made through the Minister 
of State, and in every case the name, quality, 
or business of the visitor to be communicated 
to the chamberlain or gentlemen in waiting, 
who should judge whom to admit and whom 
to exclude. 

Mr. Hamilton quite agreed with the Vice- 
President; but to some Republican ears these 
regulations savored of the audience chamber 
of a monarch. Mr. Jefferson gave it as his 
opinion that " the glare of royalty and nobility, 
during his mission to England, had made him 
[Mr. Adams] believe their fascination a neces- 
sary ingredient in government," while William 
Maclay, United States Senator from Pennsyl- 
vania, declared himself boldly against all the 
devices of this " son of Adam." Mr. Maclay, 
who w^as as strongly Republican in his view^s as 
Mr. Jefferson, and was always on the lookout 
for stumbling-blocks and rocks of offence from 
the Federalists, wrote in his diary at this 
time : 

" I entertain no doubt that many people are 
aiming with all their force to establish a splen- 
did court with all the pomp of majesty. Alas ! 
poor Washington, if you are taken in this 
snare ! Then will the gold become dim ! Then 
will the fine gold be changed ! Then will your 
glory fade ! " Again, when a motion for ad- 

37 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

journment carried, in order to allow the sen- 
ators to attend the President's levee, Mr. Ma- 
clay wrote with a pen dipped in gall : " Levees 
may be extremely useful in old countries 
where men of great fortunes are collected, as 
it may keep the idle from being much worse 
employed. But here I think they are hurtful. 
They interfere with the business of the public, 
and, instead of employing only the idle, have 
a tendency to make men idle who should be 
better employed. Indeed, from these small 
beginnings I fear we shall follow on nor cease 
till we have reached the summit of court eti- 
quette, and all the frivolities, fopperies and 
expense practiced in European governments. 
I grieve to think that many individuals among 
us are aiming at these objects with unceasing 
diligence." 

Despite these and other strictures upon the 
social etiquette of this administration, we can- 
not fail to look upon it as a fortunate circum- 
stance that the President and some of his 
advisers were not of Mr. Jefferson's and Mr. 
Maclay's way of thinking. Washington, with 
rare wisdom and foresight, said with regard to 
social usages about to be inaugurated : " Many 
things, which appear of little importance in 
themselves and at the beginning, may have 
great and durable consequences from their 
having been established at the commence- 
ment of a new general government. It will 
be much easier to commence the adminis- 
tration upon a well-adjusted system, built on 

38 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

tenable grounds, than to correct errors, or alter 
inconveniences, after they shall have been con- 
firmed by habit." 

Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Adams were both of 
the opinion that a certain amount of form and 
ceremony added to the dignity of a republican 
government as well as to that of a monarchy, 
in addition to which the stated days and hours 
for receiving guests prevented the President 
and Mrs. Washington from being intruded 
upon at inopportune times. The President 
was especially desirous that the ceremonial 
of the receiving of visits should be arranged, 
as he realized soon after his inauguration that 
he was no longer master of himself or of his 
home. " By the time I had done breakfast," 
he wrote, " and thence till dinner, and after- 
wards till bed-time, I could not get rid of the 
ceremony of one visit before I had to attend 
to another. In a word, I had no leisure to 
read or to answer the dispatches that were 
pouring in upon me from all quarters." 

The question of tea-drinkings Mr. Adams 
answered summarily by saying that the Presi- 
dent had a right to attend festivities of this 
nature whenever and wherever he chose, such 
invitations being accepted by him as a private 
citizen. 

Mr. Maclay's jeremiads upon the vanity of 
the world in which he w^as dwelling, where 
nothing was " valued or regarded but the 
qualifications that flow from the tailor, barber, 
or dancing master," are amusing enough when 

39 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

contrasted with the dignified simpHcity of the 
President's much criticized Tuesday afternoon 
levees. Each guest was introduced by one 
of the secretaries, Mr. Tobias Lear or Major 
William Jackson. After the introductions 
were completed, the President passed along 
the line of guests, calling each one by name 
and saying a few words to each in turn. No 
refreshments ■were served. 

Mrs. Washington held her drawing-room 
on Friday evenings, and although these func- 
tions were not lacking in dignity, they were 
probably a little less splendid than would 
appear from Mr. Huntington's picture of the 
Republican Court. Mrs. Washington, who 
was eminently domestic, seems to have pos- 
sessed the power of giving a homelike charm 
to all that she did, whether it v^^as to make a 
cup of tea at her own table for Mr. Wansey, 
or to receive in her drawing-room the guests 
of the nation. The descriptions that have 
come down to us of the Friday evening re- 
ceptions at the Presidential mansion, with 
their tea, plum cake, and early hours for 
meeting and retiring, suggest no social usages 
that could by their artificiality or splendor 
endanger republican institutions. Great balls 
were given during the first administration, by 
the Comte de Moustier and others, but none 
seem to have been given by the President. 

For the arduous task that lay before him, 
the President associated -with him the best 
element that the country afforded in birth, 

40 




Lady Catherine Duer 
Page 64 




Governor William King 
Page 45 



i 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

breeding, and scholarship, as well as in char- 
acter and statecraft. It was less difficult then 
than to-day to bring to the service of the 
nation the best talent of the land. The regu- 
lar business of many prosperous individuals 
had been unsettled by the long war, and 
furthermore, be it said to their honor, men of 
ability were content to forego the more rapid 
building up of fortunes for the sake of giving 
their time and talents to the support of a 
national life that had been bought with a 
price. Nor can the emoluments of office 
be looked upon as weighing heavily in the 
balance against private interests, when Jeffer- 
son's compensation for his services as Secre- 
tary of State was thirty-five hundred dollars, 
while his associate cabinet officers received 
only three thousand dollars. Upon this mod- 
est sum these gentlemen and their families 
were expected to make a good appearance, 
entertain strangers, and live in a style suited 
to their position in a city, where living w^as 
naturally more expensive from the fact that 
Congress had established itself there. Every- 
thing, however, depends upon the point of 
view ; and when twenty thousand dollars was 
proposed for the President and eight thousand 
dollars for the Vice-President, Mr. Maclay, 
with withering sarcasm, proposed to reverse 
the old proverb and make it read, " Be no ser- 
vice but salary," feeling that such " princely 
incomes " would lead to extravagance and pos- 
sibly to office-seeking. 

41 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Before accepting the position of Auditor of 
the Treasury, offered him in the new govern- 
ment, Mr. Wolcott wrote to Mr. Oliver Ells- 
worth to ascertain something with regard to 
the expense of living in New York, that he 
might decide v^rhether the modest sum of 
fifteen hundred dollars would enable him to 
sustain such an outward appearance as he 
deemed suitable for an official of his position 
in the administration. On learning that a 
house and stable could be had for two hun- 
dred dollars and the best wood for four dollars 
a cord, he concluded that, despite the fact that 
marketing \A^as twenty-five per cent, above the 
Hartford rates, it would be safe to make the 
experiment. In writing to his wife upon this 
subject Mr. Wolcott said : " I am confident 
that no change in our habits of living will in 
any degree be necessary. The example of the 
President and his family will render parade 
and expense improper and disreputable." 

It is needless to say that Mr. Wolcott's ex- 
pectations with regard to the moderation of 
the President's household were not disap- 
pointed. Extravagance and luxury were never 
encouraged by the President or Mrs. Wash- 
ington, and even if Mr. Maclay found their 
dinners the best that he had ever eaten, he 
never once speaks of them as too elaborate. 
It is pleasant to know that this very critical 
Senator had, at that time, no fault to find \vith 
this "first Character in the world," or with 
his amiable lady. 

43 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Most of those who held positions in the new 
government had already served the Colonies 
by their counsel, their statecraft and their 
diplomacy, such men as John Adams, the 
Vice-President; John Jay, Chief Justice of the 
Supreme Court ; Alexander Hamilton, Secre- 
tary of the Treasury ; his great colleague in 
Federalism, James Madison ; and their brilliant 
opponent, Thomas Jefferson, who had re- 
turned from his mission in France in time to 
accept the most important portfolio in the new- 
cabinet. No less distinguished were Edmund 
Randolph, first Attorney-General of the United 
States; Robert R. Livingston, Chancellor of the 
State of New York, who had just administered 
the oath of office to the President at the City 
Hall; James Iredell, of North Carolina, who 
had forfeited a large fortune in the West 
Indies in order to serve the patriot cause, and 
was, in 1790, appointed by the President, As- 
sociate Judge of the Supreme Court of the 
United States ; Charles Carroll of Carrollton, 
United States Senator from Maryland ; Wil- 
liam Bradford, Attorney-General of Pennsyl- 
vania, and later of the United States; Robert 
Morris, and Benjamin Huntington, of Con- 
necticut, grandfather of the artist, Daniel 
Huntington, whose brush has perpetuated the 
faces and figures of this illustrious group for 
future generations. 

Mr. Maclay has left an amusing pen-picture 
of three of the cabinet officers as they ap- 
peared at a dinner given by the Pennsylvania 
43 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

delegation : " Hamilton," he says, " has a very 
boyish, giddy manner, and Scotch-Irish people 
would call him a 'skite.' Jefferson trans- 
gresses on the extreme of stiff gentility or lofty 
gravity. Knox is the easiest man, and has 
the most dignity of presence. They retired 
at a decent time, one after another. Knox 
stayed the longest, as indeed suited his aspect 
best, being more of a Bacchanalian figure." 

One of the younger statesmen in the Con- 
gress of the first administration was Rufus 
King, from Maine, who had served in the 
Congress of 1785, and there, at the age of 
thirty, had introduced a resolution which was 
later adopted in the ordinance of 1787 for 
the government of the Northwestern Terri- 
tory. Mr. King's resolution was : 

"That there should be neither slavery nor 
involuntary servitude in any of the states 
described in the resolution of Congress in 
April, 1784, otherwise than in punishment 
of crime whereof the party shall have been 
personally guilty ; and that this regulation 
shall be made an article of compact, and 
remain a fundamental principle of the Consti- 
tution between the original states and each 
of the states named in the said resolve." 

Mr. King married Mary Alsop, daughter of 
John Alsop, member of the Continental Con- 
gress from his o^vn State. This marriage took 
place while the Congress was in session in 
New York. John Adams, who was abroad 
at the time, wrote to congratulate the groom, 

44 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

and at the same time very cleverly announced 
the marriage of his own daughter, by saying 
that he takes especial interest in Mr. King's 
marriage to Miss Alsop, of New York, and 
Mr. Gerry's recent marriage, because " A good 
work of the same kind, for connecting Massa- 
chusetts and New York in the bonds of love, 
was going on here. Last Sunday, under the 
right reverend sanction of the Archbishop of 
Canterbury and the Bishop of St. Asaph, were 
married Mr. Smith and Miss Adams.* It will 
be unnatural if federal purposes are not an- 
swered by these marriages." 

Mrs. Rufus King is described as charming, 
cultivated, and possessed of great personal 
beauty. 

William King, a brother of Rufus King, took 
an active part in the separation of Maine and 
Massachusetts, and was subsequently elected 
the first Governor of Maine. At the conclu- 
sion of his term of office. Governor King was 
appointed Commissioner for the adjustment 
of Spanish Claims. 

Side by side with statesmen and diploma- 
tists were such gallant soldiers as General 
Henry Knox, who occupied the position of 
Secretary of War, which bureau, during this 
and the following administration, included 
naval matters ; General Philip Schuyler, now 

* Colonel William S. Smith, of Jamaica, Long Island, 
was appointed Secretary of Legation, and while in Eng- 
land married Abigail Adams. Charles Adams married 
Sally Smith, a sister of Colonel William S. Smith. 

45 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Senator from New York ; Charles Cotesworth 
Pinckney, from South Carolina, who is better 
known as a statesman than as a soldier, and 
who, during a mission abroad, upon -which he 
entered a little later, formulated the truly 
American maxim, " Millions for defence, but 
not a cent for tribute ; " General Philemon 
Dickinson, United States Senator from New 
Jersey, and his brother-in-law, Samuel Mere- 
dith, who had fought at Princeton, Brandy- 
wine, and Germantown, and now served his old 
commander as first Treasurer of the United 
States. Mr. Meredith held this position for 
more than twelve years, and is said to have 
paid into the Treasury its first deposit, a loan 
from himself to the government of twenty 
thousand dollars. The gallant and intrepid 
Pennsylvania soldier, Anthony Wayne, has 
been appointed by his former comrade-in-arms 
General-in-Chief of the United States Army. 
As there is still trouble in the Northwest, 
where certain Indian tribes are making a 
stand for Great Britain, Wayne finds little 
time for councils of state and still less for 
playing carpet knight in ladies' drawing- 
rooms, handsome as he is, and fond as he 
may be of fine uniforms on dress parade. 

A distinguished circle was this, which was 
assembled around Mrs. Washington, the most 
distinguished that had ever been gathered 
together in the New World, and one rarely 
if ever equalled in later times, for here 
were men and women who had learned their 

46 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

lessons of patriotism in the school of danger 
and adversity. Many of the wives and daugh- 
ters of men who had come from other States 
to fill positions in the national government 
were with their husbands and fathers, while 
all the w^omen belonging to representative New 
York families were present at the Tuesday 
evening receptions. During the early months 
of the administration, the Washingtons lived 
in the house of Walter Franklin on Cherry 
Street, at that time owned by his widow, who 
had married Mr. Samuel Osgood. This was 
a substantial square building with five windows 
facing on the Cherry Street front, and the same 
number on Franklin Square. To this house, 
tradition says, the President w^alked from the 
foot of Wall Street, after the inauguration, 
amid the joyful shouts of the assembled mul- 
titude. The Pennsylvania representatives, 
George Clymer and Thomas Fitzsimons, were 
quite near the President's on Pearl Street. 
Another Pennsylvania statesman. Senator 
Maclay, was nursing his rheumatic knee that 
gave him so much trouble, and the bitter prej- 
udices that caused him even more uneasiness, 
" at Mr. Vandolsom's near the Bear Market," 
according to the " Register for 1789," which 
also states that Mr. Henry Wynkoop was at 
the same house, while Colonel Jeremiah Van 
Rensselaer was " at Mr. Strong's, near the 
Albany Pier." Mr. Oliver Wolcott wrote his 
father that he was comfortably lodged at Mrs. 
Grinnell's, No. 27 Queen Street, where he says 

47 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

that he procured lodgings in a good family. 
Although Mr. Jefferson later had an establish- 
ment on Broadway, he wrote to his son-in-law 
that he was glad to secure a small house on 
Maiden Lane. This street with its quaint 
name ran down to the Vly (or Vlye) Market, 
near which once stood the alluring Bunch of 
Grapes tavern, where food was provided, not 
only for " man and beast," but for mind and 
body, as here the " Three R's were taught in 
a commodious room and youth fitted for the 
counting-house." Near the President's home 
on Pearl, or Queen Street, was the Friends' 
Meeting, as this was the aristocratic Quaker 
district of old New York. The Franklins, 
whose house the President occupied, were 
leading Friends. " Here," says Mr. Griswold, 
" v/ere the Pearsalls, the Pryors, the Embrees, 
the Effinghams, the Hickses, the Hawxhursts, 
the Halletts, the Havilands, the Cornells, the 
Kenyons, the Townsends, the Tituses, the 
W^illetts, the Wrights, etc. Interspersed, how- 
ever, with these residences were others, equal- 
ly substantial, though not as plain, such as 
those of the Waltons and Roosevelts. The 
Bank of New York was first kept in the large 
Walton House, and its first President, the 
elder Isaac Roosevelt, had his dwelling nearly 
opposite." 

Colonel Theodoric Bland, James Madison, 
John Page, and other Virginians gave evidence 
of their proverbial clannishness by living in the 
same street, Maiden Lane. The Nestors of 

48 




Colonel Jeremiali Wadsworth 
By James Sharpies 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

the administration, Colonel Jeremiah Wads- 
worth, who had filled with honor during the 
war the important position of Commissary 
General to the Continental Army, and Jona- 
than Trumbull, the brave old war Governor of 
Connecticut, the original " Brother Jonathan," 
were both living at 195 Water Street. Mr. 
Hamilton's residence w^as at the corner of 
Broad and Wall Streets, and the following 
year Mr. and Mrs. Osgood returned to their 
own home on Cherry Street, and the President 
occupied Mr. Macomb's house on Broadway ; 
the Secretaries of State and of War were 
then living quite near on the same street. Sir 
John Temple, British Consul General for the 
Eastern States, was established on the other 
side of Broadway, on Cortlandt Street, while 
Theodore Sedgwick and Fisher Ames were 
thankful to find an abiding-place at Mrs. Duns- 
comb's fashionable bachelors' boarding-house. 
The Reverend Manasseh Cutler, while in 
New York, dined with the Temples, and found 
much to admire in them and in their elegant 
establishment. It being Sunday, the dinner 
hour was two o'clock, and even without the 
mellow glow of wax candles, Mr. Cutler 
confessed that the brilliancy of the liveries 
and service was only exceeded by the beauty 
of the hostess, who was, he says, "The 
greatest beauty, notwithstanding her age, I 
ever saw. To a well-proportioned form, a 
perfectly fine skin, and completely adjusted 
features, is added a soft, but majestic air, an 
4 49 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

easy and pleasing sociability, a vein of fine 
sense which commands admiration and infuses 
delight. Her smiles, for she rarely laughs, 
could not fail of producing the softest sensi- 
bility in the fiercest savage. Her dress is ex- 
ceedingly neat and becoming, but not gay. 
She is now a grandmother, but I should not 
suppose her more than 22: her real age is 44." 
Sir John, Mr. Cutler pronounced " a Com- 
plete Gentleman," and his wines superlative 
in quality, nothing pleasing him more than to 
hear his Madeira praised and to have his 
guests frequently beg for the honor of a glass 
with him. 

The small daughter of the house, Augusta, 
aged six, the New England parson found even 
more remarkable than her mother, her man- 
ners being, according to his description, those 
of a complete woman of society. ''She in- 
troduces herself," says Mr. Cutler, "with an 
easy politeness to every person in the com- 
pany, and is never at a loss for a subject of 
conversation, and so sensible and pertinent 
are all her observations and remarks that she 
never fails of pleasing. 

" She distinguishes characters in paying her 
attentions with a judgment and precision 
which w^ould do honor to mature age. 

" No lady is more complete mistress of all 
the little etiquette which adorns a finished 
education." 

It is to be hoped that Mr. Cutler somewhat 
exaggerated the attainments of this very 

SO 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

young lady, as his picture suggests an infant 
phenomenon, rather than the intelligent and 
well-bred child that little Miss Temple doubt- 
less was. It is gratifying to learn from family 
records that, despite this wisdom beyond her 
years, Augusta Temple lived to reach matu- 
rity. She became the wife of "William Pal- 
mer, of Boston, and the grandmother of the 
late Rufus Prime, of New York. 

Lady Temple, who was a daughter of Gover- 
nor Bowdoin, of Massachusetts, married John 
Temple in 1767, many years before he in- 
herited his title, which came to him in a rather 
roundabout fashion through his great-grand- 
father, the Reverend Thomas Temple, LL.D., 
Rector of Burton-in-the-Water, Gloucester 
County, England, who -v^^as the devisee of his 
cousin. Sir Thomas Temple, Governor of 
Nova Scotia. The circumstances of Sir John 
Temple's birth and residence seem to accord 
with the description given of Mr. Henry 
James, the novelist, an " English gentleman 
who happened to be born in America," as 
John Temple was born near Boston, of Eng- 
lish parents, was Lieutenant-Governor of New 
Hampshire under the Crown, and later repre- 
sented England as Consul-General for the 
Eastern States. Sir John Temple died in New 
York in 1798, and was succeeded by his son 
Grenville, tenth baronet, who married Eliza- 
beth, daughter of Colonel George Watson, of 
Boston. Charming portraits of Lady Temple 
in her youth and in her \vidowhood are in 

SI 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

possession of her descendants, the first by 
Copley and the last by Stuart. Lady Temple's 
portrait by Gilbert Stuart was painted when 
she was in London in 1806, and as a pendant 
to this picture Stuart made a copy from Cop- 
ley's portrait of Sir John Temple as appears 
from a letter written by Mrs. Thomas Win- 
throp, ^vho was abroad with her mother at 
the time that the portraits were painted. John 
Trumbull also painted a family group, con- 
sisting of Sir John and Lady Temple, with 
Grenville Temple and the infant Augusta. 

Mr. Huntington has in his famous painting 
of the Republican Court made the McComb 
home on Broadway the background of his 
picture. This w^as a much more commodious 
house, to which the President and his family 
removed in the spring of 1790. Mrs. Wash- 
ington, although most dignified in her bearing 
and manners, v/as of small stature, and Mr. 
Huntington, whether true to life or simply to 
his own artistic instincts, has made the small 
hostess appear as if standing upon a slight 
elevation above most of her guests. Some of 
her particular friends are near her, among 
these Mrs. Robert Morris, who is spoken of 
by a diarist of the time as the " second female 
figure at court." The two Custis children 
stand near their grandmother, — Nellie, a beau- 
tiful girl of twelve, and her younger brother, 
George Washington Parke Custis, both far too 
young to have been present at a formal draw- 
ing-room, except for the purpose of having 

52 




Lady Temple 

(Elizabeth Bowdoin) 

3y Joliii Singleton Copley 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

their portraits painted. The President did not 
usually stand beside his wife on these occa- 
sions, as he considered himself a private citizen 
when at Mrs. Washington's receptions, and 
moved from group to group. Dignified ma- 
trons and youthful beauties from North and 
South gathered around the hostess of the na- 
tion, while no less charming were those who 
were here upon " their native heath," such 
women as Mrs. John Jay, Lady Kitty Duer, 
Mrs. Ralph Izard, — who, although she be- 
longed to a loyalist family, was the wife of the 
patriotic Senator from South Carolina, — Mrs. 
James Beekman, Mrs. GeorgeClinton, Mrs. Rob- 
ert R. Livingston, Mrs. Walter Livingston, Mrs. 
John Bayard, and Mrs. Alexander Hamilton, 
who, as Miss Betsey Schuyler, had been w^ooed 
and won by Washington's young aide-de-camp 
during the Morristown encampment, ten years 
before. Mrs. Hamilton, as the -wife of a cabi- 
net officer and the daughter of an old New York 
family, also had her days for receiving. Her 
drawing-room is described as one of the most 
brilliant of the time, her mother and sisters 
often assisting her. Mrs. Church, Mrs. Ham- 
ilton's eldest sister Angelica, had recently re- 
turned from abroad, bringing w^ith her the 
latest fashions, among them \vhat Walter 
Rutherfurd called " a late abominable fashion 
from London, of Ladies like Washwomen 
with their sleeves above their elbows." M. 
de Warville, who met Mrs. Hamilton, spoke 
of her as " a charming woman, v/ho joined to 

S3 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

all the graces the simplicity of an American 
wife." It was this same observing traveller 
w^ho, when he found Alexander Hamilton 
vi^orking until a late hour over his law cases, 
expressed his astonishment that a man who 
had made a fortune for a nation should be 
laboring all night to support a family. Ham- 
ilton's brilliant, intellectual face was often 
to be seen at the President's table, as a 
warm friendship existed between the grave 
Virginian and his gay, versatile young Secre- 
tary, who was yet capable of solving such 
serious problems for the nation. ^A(''ashing- 
ton probably knew Hamilton's faults as well 
as anyone ; but, with his own strict ideas of 
life and duty, he was capable of looking be- 
yond them and seeing what was great and 
good in his character. The complex, contra- 
dictory nature of Hamilton seems never to 
have been fully understood ; but we may be- 
lieve that the best part of his character, as 
v^ell as his genius, was known and valued by 
the Chief, who loved him. 

Mrs. Hamilton, lovely in old age as in her 
youth, is described as having a delicate face, 
full of character. Her fine eyes, which were 
very dark, held the life and energy of the 
restrained countenance. Mrs. Hamilton may 
not have been as handsome as her mother, but 
she was equally brave and high-spirited. Mrs. 
Philip Schuyler's daughters all seem to have 
inherited their mother's courage, which was 
often put to the severest test during the 

54 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

war. Her daughter Margaret, who now bears 
her mother's maiden name, having married 
Stephen Van Rensselaer, was a girl of about 
thirteen when the Schuyler home, near Albany, 
was attacked by a party of Indians, Canadians, 
and French under John Walter Meyer. The 
General, his w^ife and children, had gained an 
upper room, from whose w^indow^ he fired to 
alarm the town and the sleeping guard, when 
Mrs. Schuyler suddenly discovered that the 
youngest child had been left in her cradle on 
the first floor. General Schuyler would not 
allo'w his wife to risk her life by going dow^n to 
rescue the child; but Margaret, quicker than 
thought, flew down two flights of stairs, 
snatched her little sister from the cradle, and 
was running upstairs with the baby in her 
arms when an Indian hurled a tomahawk at 
her. The young girl's dress was cut, and the 
weapon passed within a few^ inches of the 
infant's head and lodged in the railing of the 
stairs. Meyer saw the girl running upstairs 
with a child in her arms, and, taking her for 
the nurse, called out, " Wench, wench, where 
is your master ? " "Gone to alarm the town," 
was the clever reply ; and in another moment 
Margaret had gained the upper room and laid 
the baby in her mother's arms, while Meyer 
and the marauders — misled by Margaret's 
answ^er and by the voice of the General calling 
from the window, as if speaking to a large 
party of men, " Come in, my brave fellows ! 
Surround the house ! Seize the villains who 

55 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

are plundering ! " — suddenly and precipitately 
retreated with a large amount of plate, which 
they had found in the dining-room. The baby 
thus bravely rescued was Catherine Schuyler, 
who afterwards married Major Cochran. 

Other women, as heroic as Mrs. Schuyler 
and her daughter, had shared with their 
husbands and fathers the dangers and the 
excitements of camp life ; and now^, in her 
ow^n drawing-room, Mrs. Washington rene^ved 
friendships formed in days of trial and sus- 
pense. Chief among her army friends were 
Mrs. Knox and Mrs. Greene. Little Mrs. 
Smith, John Adams's daughter, wrote to her 
mother of dining with the General and Mrs. 
Knox, and finding the former not half so fat as 
he had been and the latter much improved in 
her appearance. This improvement must have 
taken place after Mr. Cutler met Mrs. Knox, 
as he described her and her costume in terms 
far less flattering than those of Mrs. Smith. 
"Dined with General Knox," wrote the New 
England parson, who seems to have been a 
great diner out; " Introduced to his lady and a 
French nobleman, the Marquis Lotbiniere, — 
at dinner, to several other gentlemen, w^ho 
dined with us. Our dinner was served in high 
style — much in the French taste. Mrs. Knox 
is very gross, but her manners easy and grace- 
ful. She is sociable and would be very agree- 
able, were it not for her affected singularity 
in dressing her hair. She seems to mimic a 
military style, which to me is disgusting in a 

56 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

female. Her hair in front is craped at least a 
foot high, much in the form of a churn bottom 
upward, and topped off with a wire skeleton in 
the same form covered with black gauze, w^hich 
hangs in streamers down to her back. The 
hair behind is in a large braid, turned up, and 
confined with a monstrous large crooked comb. 
She reminded me of the monstrous cap worn 
by the Marquis La Fayette's valet, commonly 
called, on this account, the Marquis' Devil." 

This seems a cruel description of good Mrs. 
Knox, who w^as the soul of kindness, and was 
always the beloved "Lucy" of her faithful 
" Harry," even if she chose to disfigure her 
head with an unsightly pyramid. 

Mrs. Nathaniel Greene, no longer the gay '^^ 

young matron who " danced upwards of three 
hours w^ith General Washington without once 
sitting dow^n," but a w^oman saddened by a 
crushing sorrow and three years of widow- 
hood, was a frequent visitor at the President's 
home. During his Southern tour "Washing- 
ton recorded in his diary, that on his way to 
Augusta he stopped "to dine with the widow 
of his old friend and companion in arms. 
General Greene, at her seat called Mulberry 
Grove;" while in his New York diary the 
President often spoke of having Mrs. Greene, 
Mrs. Knox, and Mrs. Montgomery to dine 
with Mrs. Washington and himself, and to 
join a theatre party afterwards. To these 
two widov/s of his former associates, Mrs. 
Nathaniel Greene and Mrs. Richard Mont- 

57 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

gomery, the President always paid marked 
attention. 

In order to add to the interest of his paint- 
ing, Mr. Huntington has been guilty of such 
anachronisms as introducing into his picture 
'^ General Nathaniel Greene, who died before 
the new government was established, while 
the Duke of Orleans, afterwards King of the 
French, and the Duke of Kent, father of Queen 
Victoria, w^ho. were in America at different 
times, are represented as making their bows 
to Mrs. "Washington at the same time. Such 
anachronisms as these may be overlooked in 
the poet, novelist, or artist, and although 
sometimes misleading do not in this case 
destroy the historic value of Mr. Huntington's 
painting, which has been most carefully 
studied in the matter of costumes as well as 
with regard to the faces and figures repre- 
sented. 

Mr. Jefferson's daughter, Martha, who mar- 
ried Thomas Mann Randolph soon after her 
return from abroad, appears in this picture ; 
but as no mention is made of a visit to New 
York in the numerous letters that passed 
. between her father and herself, it is doubtful 
. whether she left the congenial domesticity 
of Monticello for the gayeties of the capital. 
Martha Jefferson's marriage was evidently 
pleasing to Mr. Jefferson, w^ho summed up 
his son-in-law's advantages in one of his char- 
acteristic sentences, as " a man of science, 
sense, virtue and competence." 

58 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Mary, Maria, or Polly Jefferson, as she was 
usually called, accompanied her father to 
Philadelphia in the autumn of 1791, as he 
\vrote to Mr. and Mrs. Randolph soon after 
he arrived at the capital: 

"The first part of our journey was pleasant, 
except some hair-breadth escapes which our 
new horse occasioned us in going down hills 
the first day or two, after which he behaved 
better, and came through the journey pre- 
serving the fierceness of his spirit to the last. 
I believe he will make me a valuable horse. 
Mrs. "Washington took possession of Maria 
at Mount Vernon, and only restored her to 
me here [Philadelphia]. It was fortunate 
enough, as w^e had to travel through five days 
of north-east storm, having learned at Mount 
Vernon that Congress was to meet on the 24th 
instead of the 31st, as I had thought." 

Mr. Huntington introduces Miss Haber- 
sham, of Georgia, into his picture. This 
young lady, of whom no contemporaneous 
description is to be found, was the daughter 
of Colonel Joseph Habersham, whose portrait, 
by Charles Willson Peale, has lately been 
acquired by Independence Hall. Colonel Hab- 
ersham was one of the heroic Southern figures 
of the war. In 1775 he seized the powder 
in the arsenal at Savannah, thus securing it 
for the patriot cause, and later as Major of 
the First Georgia Battalion defended the chief 
city of his State against a British naval attack. 
Colonel Habersham was appointed by Presi- 

59 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

dent Washington to succeed Mr. Samuel 
Osgood as Postmaster-General, which posi- 
tion he held during several administrations. 

Senator Charles Carroll from Maryland was 
accompanied to New York by his daughter 
Polly, who had married Mr. Richard Caton, 
an English gentleman w^ho came to America 
in 1785. Mrs. Caton, who was herself charm- 
ing in manners and appearance, is now chiefly 
known as the mother of the beautiful Catons. 
The eldest of these daughters married Mr. 
Robert Patterson, of Baltimore, and while 
abroad with her husband was much admired 
by young Sir Arthur Wellesley, afterwards 
Duke of Wellington, who regularly corre- 
sponded with Mrs. Patterson after her return 
to America. Mrs. Patterson after her hus- 
band's death revisited London. Her former 
admirer, the Duke of Wellington, was mar- 
ried; but as if it were written in the book of 
fate that the American beauty should marry 
a W^ellesley, his elder brother, the Marquess 
of Wellesley, then Viceroy of India, was cap- 
tivated by the still young and lovely w^idow, 
whom he married. One of the sisters of the 
Marchioness of Wellesley married Colonel 
Hervey, an aide-de-camp to Lord Wellington 
at Waterloo, and becoming a widow was mar- 
ried to the Marquess of Caermarthen, after- 
wards Duke of Leeds, while a third daughter 
of Richard Caton married Baron Stafford, and 
a fourth became the wife of Mr. McTavish, 
for many years British Consul at Baltimore. 

60 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

General Oliver "Wolcott, who had rendered 
such good service in the field as well as in 
Congress during the Revolution, was not in 
New York much of the time during the first 
administration. He was one of the first to 
greet the President when he reached New 
Haven, during the Eastern tour of the Chief 
Magistrate, and as Lieutenant-Governor, and 
later as Governor, of Connecticut was in con- 
stant correspondence with the President, by 
whom he was highly esteemed. 

It was General Oliver "Wolcott who, after 
the overthrow^ of the leaden statue of George 
the Third in New York, had it conveyed 
to his home at Litchfield, Connecticut, where 
under his direction it ^vas converted into 
bullets for the use of the army. In this patri- 
otic work General Wolcott was aided by the 
women of his family. 

In writing to his wife from Philadelphia, 
where he was attending the sessions of Con- 
g'-ess in 1777, General Wolcott asked for par- 
ticular information about the health of the 
family, as Mrs. Wolcott and the children were 
then undergoing the barbarous process of in- 
oculation for small-pox. " I perceive," he 
says, "that Mariana has had it bad — he [Dr. 
Smith] writes very hard. I am heartily sorry 
for what the little Child has suffered, and very 
much want to see her. If she has by this lost 
some of her Beauty, which I hope she has 
not, yet I well know she might spare much 
of it and still retain as much as most of her 

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t\ 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Sex possess." Then the good New England 
father adds, as if in excuse for having made 
too much of the fatal snare of beauty, " But 
I hope the Small Pox will give her no un- 
easiness, tho' it may have a little hurt her 
Complexion, as there is no valuable or lasting 
Beauty but what exists in the Mind; and if 
she cultivates these Excellencies, she will not 
fail of being beloved and esteemed." 

From her portrait and from the descriptions 
of contemporaries, it is evident that " Mari- 
ana" did not lose her beauty, even if she had 
the small-pox " very hard." Marianne was 
the youngest daughter of General Wolcott, 
and was one of the brides of the first adminis- 
tration, as she married Chauncey Goodrich in 
October, 1789. Mr. Goodrich was in Congress 
later ; but in these early years he and his wife 
spent much of their time in their Hartford 
home, as appears from Mrs. Goodrich's letters 
to her sister-in-law, Mrs. Oliver W^olcott, Jr. 
A warm friendship evidently existed between 
these ladies. Before their marriage they wrote 
fanciful school-girl letters to one another, and 
afterwards long domestic epistles about their 
husbands and children and of their ov/n doings 
at home and abroad. Soon after her mar- 
riage Mrs. Goodrich w^rote to her sister-in- 
la-w, who was with her husband in New- 
York, that her letter had found her seated by 
the fire with her " good man like sober, honest 
people," while to her mother she wrote, a little 
later, that although her sister Laura had gone 

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Mrs. Chauiicey Coodrich 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

to the Assembly with all the gaiety and good 
spirits of a girl of sixteen, she is spending the 
evening at her own fireside, and means "to 
take Oliver's advise and not play too many 
modish pranks this Winter." This was Oliver 
Wolcott, Jr., who was in New York as Audi- 
tor of the Treasury. Mr. Wolcott was made 
Secretary of the Treasury upon the resigna- 
tion of Mr. Hamilton. 

Second only in importance to Mrs. Wash- 
ington's drawing-rooms and dinners were the 
entertainments of Mrs. John Jay and Lady 
Kitty Duer. By some good fortune, the visit- 
ing-lists of both of these ladies have been 
preserved, and on them are to be found the 
names of statesmen, diplomats, foreign min- 
isters, and consuls, side by side with those of 
the men and v/omen prominent in the social 
life of New York and of other leading cities of 
the Union. 

Mrs. John Jay, a daughter of Governor 
Livingston, of Ne^w Jersey, was a v^^oman of 
considerable natural ability, of great charm of 
manner, as well as of distinguished beauty. 
Mrs. Jay accompanied her husband upon his 
missions to Spain and France, and while in 
Paris in 1782 made many friends. Among these 
was the lovely Marquise de Lafayette. In a 
letter, written from the French capital a few 
years later, Mrs. Adams said, "Every person 
who knew her when here bestows many en- 
comiums on Mrs. Jay." Another contempo- 
rary in writing of Mrs. Jay said that "with 

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SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

her father's stern patriotism, she blended feat- 
ures of gentleness, grace and beauty peculiarly 
her own." 

An own cousin of Mrs. Jay was Cathe- 
rine Duer, who with her mother, Lady Stir- 
ling, her sister. Lady Mary Watts, Lady 
Temple, and Lady Christiana Griffin, wife of 
the President of Congress, were among the 
titled dames of this administration. Cathe- 
rine Alexander -was a daughter of Major- 
General William Alexander, Earl of Stirling, 
the American claimant to the Scottish earl- 
dom of Stirling. During the w^ar, while Lord 
Stirling was engaged in active service. Lady 
Kitty was with her mother, at the Stirling 
manor-house among the hills of Basking Ridge, 
and naturally entered into whatever military 
festivities served to dispel the gloom of those 
anxious days in the winter of '79, when the 
enemy in New York was rather too near for 
comfort or security to be felt in any of the New 
Jersey homes of that vicinity. Perhaps for 
this reason the young people enjoyed their 
" little frisks " all the more. Lady Kitty cer- 
tainly enjoyed one especial gaiety at Plucka- 
min, held in honor of the French alliance, to 
which Colonel William Duer, her father's 
friend and her own, came and danced with 
her again and again. After some months a 
^vedding followed, a military w^edding, w^hen 
the Commander-in-Chief himself gave away 
the bride, and all around the lawn troops 
were on guard, lest the army in New York 

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SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

should suddenly appear upon the scene and 
turn the wedding into a surprise party of a 
very disagreeable kind. 

Although possessed of no lordly title, Colonel 
William Duer was in every way worthy of his 
fair bride, as he -was a distinguished man and 
an ardent American, even if he had begun 
his career in the British army. Colonel Duer 
had rendered important service in the Com- 
mittee of Safety of New York and in the 
State and National Councils, and it is said 
that to his influence was largely due the 
failure of the infamous Conway cabal, whose 
object ^vas to depose General Washington 
from his command of the army. Colonel 
Duer and his wife were valued friends of the 
President and Mrs. Washington and were 
frequently their guests at dinners and recep- 
tions, while in their o^vn home on Cortlandt 
Street they entertained in a style befitting 
their station. Mr. Cutler of course dined 
with the Duers, in company, he records, with 
Mr. Osgood, President of the Board of the 
Treasviry, Major Sargent, and several other 
gentlemen. 

" At table we were honored with the com- 
pany of Mademoiselle La Fouche,* a French 
lady of the family of one of the noblesse, and 
Lady Kitty, the wife of Colonel Duer. Lady 
Kitty, for so she is called, was the daughter of 

*This may have been Mademoiselle Fauchet, whose 
father, M. Jean Antoine Joseph Fauchet, succeeded M. 
Genet as Minister from France. 

65 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Lord Sterling, and inherits the title from her 
father, who had no male heir. She is a fine 
woman, though not a beauty, very sociable, 
and with most accomplished manners. She 
performed the honors of the table most grace- 
fully, was constantly attended by two servants 
in livery, and insisted on performing the whole 
herself. Colonel Duer is Secretary to the 
Board of Treasury, and lives in the style of 
a nobleman." 

Whether Lady Kitty's " performance " con- 
sisted in anything more than helping to the 
soup and dessert, Mr. Cutler does not state. 
What seems to have impressed him the most 
was Colonel Duer's wine list, " fifteen dif- 
ferent kinds," and a certain sort of bottled 
cider that the New England parson evidently 
mistook for champagne, in the first instance. 

What it w^as to a city with a population 
of a little over thirty thousand, -which had 
been laid waste by a destructive fire and by 
the even more destructive seven years' resi- 
dence of the British army, to receive so great 
an influx of inhabitants as came with the 
sessions of Congress, we may well imagine. 
Seeing New York arise from her ashes and 
put on the garment of praise for the spirit of 
heaviness, it is not strange that all the other 
towns of any size, and some of no size at all, 
should have contended for the honor, glory, 
and profit of making the capital their ow^n. A 
far hotter contest was this than that waged 
over the title by which the President should 

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SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

be addressed, or that about the etiquette and 
ceremonial of the new government, because 
the "residence bill" was a matter of more 
vital and material interest. General Philemon 
Dickinson had been appointed by the Conti- 
nental Congress of 1784, in company with Mr. 
Robert Morris and General Philip Schuyler, 
to select a site for the federal capital. These 
three gentlemen reported in favor of Trenton. 
This report, like many others upon the same 
subject, was laid upon the table, which was 
doubtless the best place for it. Other propo- 
sitions for the " residence," as it was called, 
were to place the capital at Lancaster,Wright's 
Ferry, York, Carlisle, Harrisburg, Reading, or 
Germantown. One of the Pennsylvania Sena- 
tors went through the form of putting these 
names in nomination, the real point at issue 
alv/ays being Avhether the seat of government 
should be established in New York, Philadel- 
phia, or on the "ten-mile space," to be known 
ever after as the District of Columbia. Those 
w^ho have studied this question most thor- 
oughly say, that the establishing of the gov- 
ernment in the District of Columbia was a 
foregone conclusion, being the result of a com- 
promise between the assumptionists North 
and South. The Pennsylvania delegates were 
naturally in favor of a " residence " in their 
own State, Mr. Robert Morris advocating the 
falls of the Delaware ; Mr. George Clymer spoke 
strongly in favor of the banks of the Susque- 
hanna, Harrisburg, as the most favorable posi- 

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SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

tion in the State, while Mr. Wynkoop, named 
by some of his associates "His Highness of 
the Lower House," seems to have wavered 
between Germantown and the banks of the 
Potomac. ^A^ith all their efforts and lobbying, 
the most that the Pennsylvanians were able 
to do, and that mainly through the influence 
of Mr. Morris, was to secure the temporary 
" residence " of the government while the 
national buildings were being erected in the 
District of Columbia. Mr. Maclay evidently 
thought that the Pennsylvania delegates had 
not played their cards adroitly, as he remarked 
to Mr. Wynkoop, Mr. Clymer, and Mr. Fitz- 
simmons that they might say to themselves, 
as the Scotchman said in his prayers, " We 
were left to the freedom of our ow^n vv^ill, and 
a pretty hand we have made of it." 

The Nev>/ Yorkers, who had lost the capital, 
revenged themselves by caricaturing the affair, 
and presenting Mr. Morris in the most absurd 
light. Why indeed, said they and others in the 
opposition, should not the capital be estab- 
lished in Philadelphia for the next ten years ? 
Was it not a finer city than New York, was 
not the theatre always open, and w^as it not 
the residence of " Bobby the Treasurer " ? 
One of the caricatures represented Mr. Morris 
as "Bobby" marching off with the Federal 
ark upon his shoulders, w^hile the Devil 
attended him at the Jersey City ferry-house, 
calling " This way, Bobby." 

Despite opposition and lampooning, carica- 
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SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

tures of " Bobby " and " Miss Assumption " 
with her ill-gotten offspring, Philadelphia and 
" Potowmachus," the " residence bill " was 
carried and New York w^as shorn of her glory. 
After a residence of a little over a year, Con- 
gress and all that belonged thereunto were 
removed from New York to the banks of the 
Dela-ware. Mr. Maclay moralizes over the 
effect upon Philadelphia should a great com- 
mercial town arise upon the Potomac, utterly 
leaving out of his calculations the potentialities 
of the great metropolis that was destined to 
arise upon the scene of the long and destruc- 
tive occupation of the British troops, and of the 
brilliant, fleeting vision of brave men and fair 
w^omen, w^hose presence has forever hallowed 
the streets of old New York, and made the 
names of Wall Street and Pearl and Maiden 
Lane and Cortlandt a part of the history of 
the new Republic, v^^hose foundations were 
laid here, whose builders once lived in these 
narrow down-town thoroughfares. 



69 




SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 



CHAPTER III. LIFE IN THE QUAKER 
CAPITAL. 

HILE different cities were contend- 
ing for Congress alive, as those of 
Greece once contended for Homer 
dead, Philadelphians were building a suitable 
hall for the sessions of the Senate and House. 
It is difficult now to understand why Phila- 
delphia, or any other city, should have been so 
desirous of a merely temporary residence of 
the government. Mr. Maclay, with ingenuity 
as w^ell as acrimony, gives it as his explanation 
" That the Citizens of Philadelphia believe 
that Congress \vill become so enamoured of 
them as never to wish to leave them, and all 
this with the recent example of New York 
before their eyes, w^hose allurements are more 
than ten to two compared with Philadelphia." 
Other persons seem to have entertained the 
same opinion as Mr. Maclay with regard to 
the hopes of the residents of the Quaker City, 
even if they expressed themselves somewhat 
more mildly, and the fact that the erection of 
a handsome and spacious residence for the 
President of the United States was begun in 
1791 would seem to carry out this idea. 

The impulse that would be given to trade 
and manufactures by the residence of the gov- 
ernment \vas naturally an important factor in 
this connection. 

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SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

A writer of this period says, that upon the 
arrival of ships from England, in the spring 
and autumn, all along Front Street from Arch 
to Walnut, the pavements were covered with 
boxes and bales of English dry goods. The 
retailers, principally women, hovered around 
while the men were opening the boxes, vie^v- 
ing with admiration the rich varieties of for- 
eign chintzes, muslins, and calicoes of the 
latest fashion. " The first brilliant retail fancy 
dry goods shop was opened about this time 
by a Mrs. Whitesides, as it was said, from 
London in the true Bond Street style, at 134 
Market Street ; and the uncommon size of the 
panes of glass, the fine mull-mull and jaconet 
muslins, the chintzes and linens, suspended in 
whole pieces and entwined together in puffs 
and festoons, and the shopman behind the 
counter bowing and smiling, created for a time 
a sensation." Attractive shops were to be 
found at 30 South Second Street and on North 
Front Street, ^vhere Mrs. Holland dispensed 
her goods and her smiles, and where Mrs. 
Jane Taylor sold dry goods and trimmings, at 
the sign of the Golden Lamb, which, let us 
hope, v^^as intended as a guarantee that no 
fleecing was to be done inside the door over 
which the gilded genius presided. These pop- 
ular establishments were precursors of the 
famous Levy's, a shop situated near the Cus- 
tom-House on Chestnut Street, to ■which the 
belles of the early years of the present century 
repaired for the munitions of war. 

71 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

All along Water Street, once called King, 
and Front Street, which was separated from 
Water by a wall and an iron railing, were the 
warehouses and stores of the old-time mer- 
chants of Philadelphia. Here were the India 
stores of Robert Morris and Thomas Willing, 
and here Jacob Ridgway, John Welsh, Thomas 
P. Cope, Robert Ralston, Charles Massey, 
Manuel Eyre, Henry Pratt, Stephen Girard, 
the "Wains, Whartons, Lewises, Hollings- 
worths, and many others engaged in trade 
with South America, the Indies, China, and 
European cities, and built up great fortunes, 
in days when Philadelphia was an important 
commercial centre. 

Although importations from foreign lands 
brought many luxuries to this city, life was 
still primitive in certain respects. Many of 
the old merchants lived in houses adjoining or 
quite near their stores, and some had large 
cellars for storage purposes under their dwell- 
ings. Two of the greatest merchants of the 
time, Henry Pratt and Stephen Girard, lived 
on Water Street, the premises of the latter 
running through to his store on Front Street. 
Mr. Pratt, who was a son of Matthew Pratt, 
the artist, afterwards bought a fine house on 
Front Street that had belonged to Isaac Whar- 
ton. W^ithin a few doors lived Henry Drinker, 
a leading Quaker merchant, w^hose wife here 
wrote in her diary a simple record of the daily 
events of her own small circle. 

John Swanwick, now chiefly known to the 
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Henry PniU 
^v Gilbert Stuart 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

antiquarian as a writer of society verses, was 
engaged in the importation of West India 
goods at No. 20 Penn Street, while at his store 
near the drawbridge Charles "Wharton, who 
imported largely from Southern Europe and 
from China, was advertised in the Pennsylvania 
Packet as setting forth an alluring stock of 
Souchong, Congo, and Hyson teas, and wines 
from Lisbon and Fayal. 

Front and Second Streets seem to have been 
the favorite dvi^elling-streets of the Quaker 
merchants, although John and Elliston Perot, 
who had their store on Water Street, built 
houses side by side as far out High Street as 
297 and 299, which locality was considered 
almost out of town in those days. 

The building erected for the sessions of Con- 
gress was placed upon the southeast corner of 
Sixth and Chestnut Streets, upon the same lot 
as the State House, a happy selection, being 
half-way between the thickly settled portion 
of the city and the western streets tow^ards 
which men of speculative minds were beginning 
to turn their thoughts.* In the second-story 
room of this building the Senate of the United 
States held its sessions, and here, on the 4th 
of March, 1793, the oath of office was admin- 
istered to Washington upon his re-election for 
the ensuing four years as President of the 

* Mr. John F. Watson says that Mr. Markoe's house, on 
the south side of High Street, between Ninth and Tenth, 
was, when built, called "the house next to Schuylkill," on 
account of being so far out of town. 

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SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

United States. Edward Thornton, Esq., after- 
v^ards Secretary of Legation to the United 
States from Great Britain, thus described the 
inauguration ceremonies in a letter to Sir 
James Bland Burges, under date of March 5, 
1793 : " I was present yesterday at the cere- 
mony of administering the oath of office to 
Mr. "Washington on his re-election for the 
next four years as President of the United 
States. It was administered by one of the 
Judges of the Supreme Court in the Senate 
Chamber in the presence of the Senators and 
as many individuals as could be crowded into 
the room. The President first made a short 
speech, expressive of his sense of the high 
honour conferred on him by his re-election. 
There was nothing particular in the ceremony 
itself. . . . 

" There was one thing v/hich I observed 
yesterday in the Senate Chamber, w^hich if not 
accidental, will serve to mark the character 
of the people, though it was trifling in itself. 
The portraits of the King and Queen of France, 
which were presented, I believe during the 
war, were covered with a curtain, a circum- 
stance which was not the case most certainly 
when I have been there on former occasions. 
Alas ! poor Louis ! 

" ' Deserted at his utmost need 

By those his former bounty fed ! ' " * 

* These portraits of himself and his Queen had been 
sent by Louis XVI. to Congress in 1785. As Congress had 

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SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Congress Hall was conveniently situated for 
legislative purposes, being only a short walk 
from the President's residence on High Street. 
Mr. Bradford, the Attorney-General, was liv- 
ing near the President on the opposite side 
of High Street ; James ^A^ilson, one of the 
Judges of the Supreme Court, and Mr. Otis, 
Secretary of the Senate, were both established 
on the same street below Sixth, w^here also 
lived Dr. Caspar Wistar, as great a physician 
as Dr. Benjamin Rush in the estimation of 
many old Philadelphians. On Mulberry, now 
Arch, one square above High, lived Timothy 
Pickering, Postmaster-General, Jared Inger- 
soll, Attorney-General for Pennsylvania, and 
Thomas Mifflin, its Governor, and that spirit- 



then no permanent seat, the French Minister, Barb6-Mar- 
bois, was not able to deliver the pictures. As he was about 
to leave America, he asked Mr. Robert Morris in 1785 to 
take charge of them until a proper place for them at the 
meeting-place of Congress could be provided. Mr. Morris 
consented, and preparations were made to unpack the pic- 
tures. To this Marbois objected in writing. Mr. Morris 
wrote back with some irritation, as if he resented the sus- 
picion that he was making an idle display of vanity by 
putting up the portraits in his own house. He said that 
he meant to lock them up. M. Marbois, however, replied 
courteously, repudiating the suspicion which had been 
ascribed to him, and proposing to deliver the pictures to 
Congress himself. 

The fate of these portraits has never been positively 
ascertained, but it is supposed that they were carried to 
Washington City and there destroyed, with so many others, 
by the fire that destroyed the government buildings in 1812. 

75 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

ual interests might not be lost sight of amid 
surroundings that represented things tem- 
poral, a number of churches of different de- 
nominations were clustered together between 
Second and Sixth and Arch and Chestnut 
Streets, while quite near the Friends' Meeting 
on Second Street rose the lofty steeple of 
Christ Church. 

Mr. Oliver Wolcott w^rote to his wife that 
he had secured a house on Third Street at 
one hundred pounds, which was double what 
w^ould have been exacted before the matter 
of residence was determined. Mr. Wolcott 
afterwards lived on Chestnut Street quite near 
Congress Hall. 

The Secretary of War, James McHenry, 
was living at 113 South Third Street, not far 
from the residence of Judge Iredell, of South 
Carolina, Alexander Hamilton's house was on 
the same street, while the Assistant Secretary 
of the Treasury, Tench Coxe, was established 
at 126 South Second Street. 

Third Street was a very fashionable quarter 
at this time, the court end of the town. Here 
lived the Willings, Powels, Byrds, Vauxes, 
Chew^s, and Hopkinsons. At the corner of 
Second and Union Mr. Archibald McCall had 
a large house surrounded by a great garden, 
on Union above Third was the house of Mr. 
John Beale Bordley, and on the east side of 
Third Street, with grounds reaching from Pine 
Street to Union, was the residence of Chief- 
Justice McKean. 

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SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

On Second, Third, and Fourth Streets, and 
on Walnut Street across from the State House 
yard, which then had an inhospitable board 
fence all around it, senators and represent- 
atives were entertained, either in their ow^n 
homes or in the Union Hotel on Fourth Street, 
kept by Francis, -who took pains to explain to 
Mr. Twining, when he applied to him for 
boarding, that his house was not a tavern, 
but a private house for the reception of Mem- 
bers of Congress. The English gentleman 
gratefully accepted a small room at the top 
of the house, considering himself fortunate 
to secure a foothold in this exclusive resort, 
where he dined with the Vice-President, Mr. 
Adams, in his drab coat, and breakfasted with 
senators and representatives, Democratic and 
Federalist, who forgot their political differ- 
ences in their enjoyment of Mrs. Francis's 
unrivalled buckwheat cakes. 

Those travellers who have left the most in- 
teresting pictures of Philadelphia life during 
the latter part of the century are the Marquis 
de Chastellux, Brissot de Warville, the Duke 
de la Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, Mr. Henry 
Wansey, Mrs. John Warder, and Mr. Thomas 
Twining. The latter was an English gentle- 
man who came to America from India in 1795, 
accompanied by two rather singular travelling 
companions, a small Bengal cow, and a great 
sheep which he called a "doombah." Find- 
ing no grazing ground near his lodgings, Mr. 
Twining was fortunate in the friendship of 

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SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Mr. Bingham, who extended the hospitality 
of his fine lawn on Fourth Street to the much 
prized "doombah." 

Monsieur de Liancourt in his diary speaks of 
the distinctly English features of Philadelphia 
life, while Mr. Wansey found the manners and 
styles so like London that, while sitting in the 
theatre, he almost imagined himself in the 
capital of his own country. 

That the Quaker City was not destitute of 
amusements may be gathered from the fact 
that two theatres were supported, one know^n 
as the Southwark Theatre, at the corner of 
South Street and Apollo, in w^hich Major 
Andre, Captain Delancey, and other young 
officers had given amateur theatricals during 
the British occupation, and another place of 
entertainment on Chestnut Street above Sixth, 
opened in 1794. Despite petitions signed by 
over three thousand citizens, by clergymen 
of different denominations, including Bishop 
White, the Reverend George Duffield, the 
Reverend Ashbel Green, and Joseph Pilmore, 
and by prominent elders of the Society of 
Friends, theatrical representations had been 
given in Philadelphia, with occasional inter- 
missions, from 1754 until 1794, when the open- 
ing of the large theatre on Chestnut Street 
made it evident that this form of amusement 
could not be suppressed. 

Some of the earliest entertainments in this 
city ■were given in a large brick warehouse in 
Water Street below Pine, owned by William 

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SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Plumsted. After the building of the Southwark 
Theatre, in 1759, the New American Company 
brought out Thomas Godfrey's " Prince of 
Parthia," the first play by an American author 
performed upon a regular stage. Another 
native play given at the Southwark Theatre in 
Philadelphia was " The Widow of Malabar," 
w^ritten by Colonel David Humphreys, for- 
merly aide-de-camp to General Washington, 
who represented the United States in Portu- 
gal and in Spain during the first and second 
administrations. 

Such influential citizens as Dr. John Red- 
man, General Walter Stewart, Robert Morris, 
James Lyle, Edward Tilghman, Thomas Wil- 
ling, and Charles Biddle were so much in 
favor of the play that they signed their names 
to a counter petition ; and when the corner- 
stone of the new theatre on Chestnut Street 
was laid, the Honorable Jared Ingersoll de- 
livered an address upon the occasion. 

This theatre was the one that excited the 
admiration of Mr. Wansey, who had found, 
he says, a very bad theatre in New York. 
He vi^ent to the " New Theatre " in Chestnut 
Street to see Mrs. Inchbald's play, " Every 
One has his Faults," with the farce, " No 
Song, No Supper/' and came away delighted 
with the theatre, the audience, and the acting. 

The President frequently attended the play 
at the Southwark and at the New Theatre, 
and sometimes indulged in going to Ricketts's 
Circus, which was at the corner of Twelfth 

79 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

and Market Streets, and afterwards at the 
southwest corner of Sixth and Chestnut 
Streets. Mr. Ricketts, who was a superb 
equestrian, rode two horses for the amuse- 
ment of the company, besides treatmg them 
to performances on the tight-rope by an Italian 
acrobat. General Washington helped to make 
this circus fashionable by attending a perform- 
ance, given soon after it was opened, for the 
purpose of supplying the poor of the city with 
fuel. An entertainment was afterwards given 
for the benefit of certain needy French exiles 
who came to Philadelphia. 

Although the " Old American Company " 
gave, at the Southwark Theatre, plays of so 
elevated a character as an adaptation of 
"Hamlet," or a moral and instructive tale 
called " Filial Piety Exemplified in the His- 
tory of the Prince of Denmark," its enter- 
tainments were not always classic, as Robert- 
son, from London, sometimes illustrated the 
" Antipodean Whirligig," with his head upon 
a strong table and his feet in the air; and upon 
one occasion, when his Excellency and his 
friends were present, the evening, which had 
begun with a representation of " The Young 
Quaker ; or. The Fair Philadelphian," ended 
with a spirited leap of one of the performers 
through a barrel of fire. 

A more sedate and instructive place of 
resort was Mr. Peale's Museum, which at 
this time occupied a room in the building of 
the Philosophical Society, on Fifth Street. 

80 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Here the indefatigable artist and scientist had 
gathered together an interesting collection of 
natural objects, which he afterwards removed 
to one of the upper rooms of the State House. 
In these, and even in earlier, days Philadel- 
phia possessed a very gay and fashionable 
circle, despite the large Quaker element in its 
population, and, perhaps in consequence of 
this element, \vas distinguished for its hos- 
pitality and generous living. It may have been 
the English characteristics of this city, so 
often spoken of by travellers and so like their 
native Virginia, whose social life in the last 
century was said to be " more English than 
the England of the Georges," that made Phila- 
delphia a congenial residence to the Presi- 
dent and Mrs. \A^ashington. Here they found 
a formal and established social order, which 
was in many cases united with great sim- 
plicity and sincerity. This combination, v/hich 
w^as, of course, due to the mingling of the 
Church and the Quaker elements in business 
and in society, was especially suited to the 
Virginia lady and gentleman, w^ho, with their 
thrifty household and farming habits, pos- 
sessed a strong predilection in favor of a 
certain amount of form and ceremony in pub- 
lic and private life. Nor was it the gay and 
fashionable side of the capital that was most 
congenial to the President and his wife, it was 
rather the strongly conservative element in its 
life, that existed then in a far greater degree 
than to-day. 

6 8i 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Among the families of leading Quakers 
Washington had warm friends, nor were 
these men likely to forget that when some 
of their members were exiled from the city 
which their ancestors had founded, it was the 
Commander-in-Chief at Valley Forge who 
recommended clemency towards them, saying 
that " humanity pleaded strongly in their 
behalf." * 

Mrs. Henry Drinker, who with her friends 
was allowed to pass through the lines to visit 
her exiled husband, expressed a certain re- 
strained admiration for " G. Washington & his 
wrife." Mrs. Washington, who entertained the 
Quaker ladies in her quarters at Valley Forge, 
was spoken of by Mrs. Drinker as " a sociable 
pretty kind of woman." 

Mrs. George Logan, a Quakeress of even 
more cultivation and of a broader mind than 
Mrs. Drinker, spoke of General W^ashington 
with admiration amounting to enthusiasm, 
finding in him " a rare and perfect pattern of 
the dignity to w^hich man might attain by 
living up to the laws of virtue and honor, his 
colossal greatness polished and adorned with 
all the amenity and gentleness \vhich delights 
and endears in domestic society." 

Miers Fisher, who was himself one of those 
exiled to Virginia, later became a friend of the 
President, was visited by him at his country- 
seat, " Ury," which was near the Fox Chase, 

* " Exiles to Virginia," by Thomas Gilpin. 
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SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

and is said to have presented his portrait to 
the Quaker lawyer.* 

The Quakers who were sent to Virginia 
^vere not the only Philcidelphians who had 
been exiled during the war. The Reverend 
Jacob Duche and Mr. Samuel Shoemaker found 
it expedient to make a long stay in England, 
where they led a much more agreeable life 
than if they had remained at home. Governor 
John Penn and Chief-Justice Benjamin Chew 
were arrested, but ^vere permitted to retire to 
the Union Iron Works in New Jersey, which 
were partly owned by Mrs. Chew's uncle, 
where they remained prisoners upon parole 
for more than a year. This treatment of the 
late Governor of the Province and of Mr. 
Chew seems to have been as unjust as that of 
the Friends, as no overt act could be alleged 
against either of them. Mr. Chew had signed 
the Non-Importation Agreements of 1763, as 
had many of the exiled Friends, and during 
the sessions of the Continental Congress had 
hospitably entertained Colonel Washington 
and John Adams, while, upon the authority of 
Miers Fisher, he is said to have distinctly 
stated, when questioned by a juror upon what 
constituted high treason, the following limita- 
tions : " But in the moment w^hen the King or 
his Ministers shall exceed the constitutional 
authority vested in them by the Constitution, 

* This portrait, by James Sharpies, is still in the posses- 
sion of the descendants of Mr. Fisher. 

83 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

submission to their mandate becomes Trea- 
son." * The head and front of Mr. Chew's 
offending seems to have been that he held 
important positions under the Crown. The 
unpleasant campaign incidents which befell 
these two gentlemen did not prevent the re- 
newal of cordial relations between them and 
General Washington. When the latter was in 
Philadelphia attending the Convention of 1787, 
he dined and drank tea with Mr. John Penn 
at Lansdowne, with Mr. Chew and with Dr. 
George Logan at Stenton. Later the Presi- 
dent gave evidence of his entire confidence in 
Mr. Chew's integrity and ability by appointing 
him Judge and President of the High Court of 
Errors and Appeals in Pennsylvania. 

On Front Street, on Second, Third, and 
Fourth Streets, and upon the thoroughfares 
intersected by them, from Mulberry, now^ Arch, 
to Cedar Street, beside the homes of the Wil- 
lings, Powels, Whites, Binghams, McCalls, 
Shippens, and other leading Church of Eng- 
land families, were the no less substantial 
and comfortable, if less showy, homes of the 
Quaker aristocracy. The owners of these 
houses wore plain clothes and used plain lan- 
guage, yet the luxuries of life and some of its 
ornaments, in the line of handsome silver and 
china, seem not to have been despised by these 
good Friends. Many of them owned coaches 

*"The Provincial Councillors of Pennsylvania," by 
Charles P. Keith. 

84 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

drawn by fine horses, and even if, like Thomas 
Wharton, they named such a vehicle, in all 
humility, " a convenience," a coach was then 
deemed an even greater luxury than to-day. 
The chariot which Mrs. ^A^ashington used 
during her residence in Philadelphia had been 
built for John Penn while he was Governor 
of the Province, and is described as a very 
handsome equipage, of a delicate cream color, 
richly decorated with gilt medallions. Mrs. 
James Pemberton, a Friend, drove so fine a 
coach that General Howe confiscated it for 
his own use w^hile in Philadelphia. 

Another luxury indulged in by Friends at 
this time, and even earlier, was the carpeting 
of their rooms, which custom was objected to 
by the more rigorous of the sect. Brissot de 
Warville cites an instance of a Quaker from 
Carolina w^ho went to dine with an opulent 
Philadelphia Friend. On finding the passage 
from the door to the staircase covered with 
carpet, the Carolina Quaker declined to enter 
the house, saying that he never dined in a 
house where there was luxury, and that "it 
was better to clothe the poor than to clothe 
the earth." 

Mrs. John Warder, an English Friend, who 
visited Philadelphia in 1786, described a num- 
ber of sumptuous entertainments at Samuel 
Pleasant's, John Clifford's, Billy Morris's, 
whom she considered something of an epi- 
cure, at George Emlen's, James Pember- 
ton's, and at the house of Miers and Sally 

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SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Fisher, both of whom she found "truly agree- 
able, observing the strictest gentility with the 
Quaker." At some of these dinners and sup- 
pers Mrs. Warder partook of the unaccus- 
tomed terrapin, which she described, without 
enthusiasm, as " a small kind of turtle." In 
view of the frequent onslaughts that Mrs. 
"Warder records upon green-turtle soup, boned 
turkey, roast pig, venison, oysters, and all 
manner of home-made pastry and sweets, in 
the preparation of which the Colonial lady 
excelled, it is not strange that John Warder 
should have been laid up with the gout during 
some days of his visit, or that his wife should 
have reached the conclusion that Philadelphia 
Friends were more superb in their entertam- 
ments than in England. 

From the stand-point of an English Friend, 
Mrs. Warder freely criticized the costumes of 
Philadelphia members of the Society, and did 
not hesitate to remark, that to see " an old 
man stand up in meeting, with a mulberry 
coat, nankeen waistcoat and breeches, with 
white stockings, would look singular in Eng- 
land ; " while some of the women's costumes 
seemed to her "inconsistent." Mrs. Warder 
was, herself, remonstrated with by an intimate 
friend for indulging in " a v/halebone bonnet," 
which, for some reason, was considered more 
worldly than pasteboard, but was comforted 
by knowing that her cap was the " admiration 
of grave and gay." The English lady does 
not state in detail the difference between her 

86 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

own dress and that of Philadelphia Friends, 
but she frankly confesses in one place that, 
although Nancy Emlen's mind appears to be 
" a perfect symmetry of heavenly love," her 
own poor mind would have to go " through 
severe conflicts " to submit to the dress worn 
by her and others, which was " all brown 
except her cap, which was coarse muslin 
without either border or strings," Despite 
her unbecoming costume, Mrs. Emlen was 
evidently fair to look upon, as Mrs. Warder 
acknowledged that she had " all Becky Gur- 
ney's sweetness of countenance, with a taller 
and more agreeable person. ' 

Rather dull, the lives of the young Friends 
seem to us, when compared with those of 
their gayer sisters and brothers in the Christ 
Church and St. Peter's circle ; yet they made 
the most of their small gayeties in the w^ay of 
weddings and Yearly Meetings, and w^ere prob- 
ably quite as happy as the rest of the world. 
These latter occasions came to be, in a cer- 
tain sense, important social events, when the 
mothers of families attended to their visiting 
and shopping and the boys and girls exchanged 
news, confidences, and sometimes hearts, as 
many Friendly marriages grew out of the meet- 
ing of young Quakers at their yearly reunions. 
The letters of the girls of the time to their 
friends, and to and from their lovers, are full 
of the simple pleasures of their lives and the 
innocent gossip of their little world. A favorite 
device of these young creatures was to write 

87 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

to their intimate friends under assumed names ; 
consequently, these plain Sallies, Hannahs, 
and Deborahs appeared in their letters as 
Juliets, Babettes, Clarissas, and Belindas, 
while their devoted swains replied to them 
over such wicked or worldly signatures as 
Lothario, Orlando, Lysander, Philario, and 
Strephon. The language of love then, as now, 
knew^ no law. A Friendly lover who wrote 
upon one page of his diary most discreetly of 
the " solid and edifying conversation ", of his 
beloved, upon the next sighs like a Shake- 
spearian sonneteer over the apparent coldness 
of his fair " charmer." 

When Elizabeth Drinker's daughter Molly 
ran off with Samuel Rhoads, what a stir 
and flutter there must have been in all the 
Quaker dove-cotes ! Yet, after reading a de- 
scription of a proper Friend's wedding, with 
its prolonged passings of meeting and baldly 
simple service, it does not seem strange that 
young people should sometimes have taken 
matters into their own hands and applied to 
the mayor for a legal sanction of their happi- 
ness. 

John Smith, who married Hannah, a daugh- 
ter of the first James Logan, thus described 
the wedding of James Pemberton, a brother of 
Israel, who w^as called "King of the Quakers." 
" Rode home in the morning and fitted out my 
four wheel chaise to bring some of Jemmy 
Pemberton's wedding guests to meeting — was 
at the meeting which was large and solid — 
88 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Mord[ecai] Yarnall and Eliza Hudson preached, 
H. M. Y. prayed, then Jemmy Pemberton was 
married." 

The bride's name is not mentioned in this 
simple record of an all-important event ; but 
it is evident that this was Hannah Lloyd, the 
first of James Pemberton's three wives, as 
John Smith speaks of "spending the evening 
at Hannah Lloyd's with the new married 
couple,^' this being the only festivity recorded. 

A more cheerful Friend's wedding was that 
of Elliston Perot, which w^as described in 
detail by Mrs. Warder, for the benefit of her 
English relatives : " A pouring wet night and 
dull morning presented but a bad prospect for 
Elliston Perot's wedding guests. However, 
we having the use of George Emlen's carriage, 
it was not of much consequence to us, further 
than getting into meeting to which there were 
not less than a dozen steps from the street and 
these in bad w^eather so muddy as to be quite 
uncomfortable. Met at the door Richard and 
Nancy Vaux. W^hen we got in found most of 
the wedding company there. Cousin Betsy 
Roberts first said a few w^ords, then honest 
Robert "Wills, after which Betsy appeared in 
supplication, then was followed by a long 
and fine testimony by William Savery. After 
which the bride and groom performed, the 
latter exceedingly well and the former not very 
badly. Meeting early closed, at least when 
the pair had signed and certificate was read, 
the woman taking upon her her husband's 

89 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

name. We went to Elliston's house but little 
distance from the meeting and I soon felt very 
comfortable \vith several of my old acquaint- 
ances, among them Abijah and Sally Dawes, 
John and Anna Clifford with many others, in 
all 48. 

" We were ushered up stairs where w^ere 
bedrooms in order, to receive us, having fires 
in most part of the house. 

"Cake and wine were early handed the 
Bride's brother Joey Sansom brought the lat- 
ter in two decanters on a waiter with Bitters 
and glasses, his sister going to take some an 
accident happened that spilt it all over her 
^vedding garment, for which I felt much less 
than for the poor young man whose embar- 
rassment was very great. Our next disaster 
proved a discovery that the black paint off the 
scirting board in every part of the house came 
off. Some gowns looked almost ruined but I 
did not thoroughly examine mine, not w^ishing 
to be made uneasy about anything of the kind. 
At 2 o'clock we were summoned down to 
dinner, time having passed till then in agree- 
able conversation, all very sociable, though 
some, and indeed many entire strangers to 
me, till from enquiring I found who they were, 
and discovered most related to some I was 
acquainted with. 

" All the Company sat at one horse-shoe 
table except cousins John Head, Jacob Dow^n- 
ing, and Billy Sansom, who were groomsmen 
and waited on us. 

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SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

" The bridesmaids were Sally Drinker,* her 
Cousin Betty Drinker, and a young woman 
named Sykes. Jacob Downing has long courted 
the former and it is now likely to be a match 
in the Spring, report says. She is a very 
cheerful, clever girl and he an agreeable young 
man. 

" We had a plentiful plain entertainment, 
almost all things that the season provided. 
After being all satisfied we adjourned up stairs 
and chatted away the afternoon, moving from 
one room to another as inclination took us. 

" The young folks w^ere innocently cheerful 
and the old ones not less so. 

" They made tea in another room and sent 
to us. About 9 we were called to supper, 
which was mostly the fragments, w^ith the ad- 
dition of a few hot partridges, less pastry and 
such like than I have ever seen on such occa- 
sions. After all had sufficiently satisfied them- 
selves, a general remove took place and the 
house soon seemed cleared. 

" Sally Dawes went with us in Sally Em- 
len's carriage and so to her home. We sat 
down and related some particulars and then 
retired. 

"The next day Lydia, Sally, Nelly Parker, 
Hannah Wills and myself calling for Sucky 
Head v/ent to visit the bride. We were first 

* Sally Drinker was a daughter of Elizabeth, the diarist, 
from whose record we learn that the course of Jacob 
Downing's true love ran smooth, as he "spoke to H. D. 
on account of Sally," and they were married May 15, 1787, 

91 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

ushered into the small parlor to take off our 
bonnets, for which purpose the bridesmaids 
and groomsmen attended, when the latter 
handed each of us up to the bride with a great 
deal of form. 

" We then seated ourselves ; about ten had 
got there before us, and in an hour we mus- 
tered full forty, many that I knew Polly and 
Molly Sykes, Sally Rawle, Peggy Wharton, 
Nancy Drinker, Sally Pleasants, Sally Gilpin^ 
her brother Joshua, Isaac Pleasants, Gideon 
W^ills, Jerry and Richard Parker, with many 
others. There was a freedom and ease in 
most of the Company that destroyed every 
idea of form. 

" The conversation was not general, but 
dividing into little parties all seemed lively. 
Tea was made and handed after which the 
three young women in office joined us. The 
men assisting to wait were also at liberty to 
chat with the rest after that was over. Sally 
conducted herself very becoming and with 
great ease, moving her seat repeatedly to con- 
verse amongst us all. 

" This ceremony lasting a week must be 
very fatiguing, and I should think very dis- 
agreeable to both Bride and Groom, but cus- 
toms long established are not very easy broke 
through." 

Mrs. W^arder's chronicle is valuable, not 
only because it gives a faithful picture of the 
life of the time, but also because it proves that 
a considerable amount of form and ceremony 

92 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

was observed by Friends, even if their usages 
were not those of the gay world. 

Another wedding feast, and one that caused 
Mrs. Warder some scruples of conscience, 
was given by Dr. James Hutchinson. At first 
the Friendly lady hesitated, as Dr. Hutchin- 
son had been married to his Quaker bride by 
a priest ; but, being fond of seeing life in the 
New World, and finding that " others made 
no distinction — calling the first three morn- 
ings to drink punch with the groom, and the 
next week drinking tea with the bride," Mrs. 
Warder attended the dinner. Here she found 
a large company, a superb entertainment, and 
afterwards enjoyed a spirited discussion upon 
dress, w^hich goes to prove that even the garb 
of a Quaker woman may afford food for con- 
versation. 

This marriage of Dr. Hutchinson to a sweet 
girl * many years younger than himself, and 
that of Margaret Rawle to Isaac Wharton, he 
being " full double her age, and she esteemed 
one of the best girls here," caused Mrs. 
Warder to reflect seriously upon "the pitch 
they are got to for husbands in this country ; " 
nor does the fact that Dr. Hutchinson and Mr. 
Wharton were redeemed from their " des- 
picable state " of bachelorhood by this step 

* The " sweet girl," to whom Dr. Hutchinson was mar- 
ried in 1786, was Sydney Howeli, his second wife. Dr. 
Hutchinson's first wife was Lydia Biddle, a sister of Col- 
onel Clement Biddle. 

93 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

reconcile Mrs. Warder to the discrepancy in 
age of these couples. 

Marriages "out of meeting" were every 
year becoming more frequent, which is not 
to be wondered at, as the Quaker girls were 
described by all travellers as lovely and charm- 
ing. Monsieur de Liancourt wrote of them in 
the latter part of the century : " Gay colours 
please the young Quaker ladies ; and are in- 
deed great enemies of the sect. The toilette 
is the subject of much uneasiness to the old 
people, whether prohibited or tolerated by 
them. But whether prohibited or not, the 
young and handsome Quaker-girls will sacri- 
fice to the toilette, and call themselves Half- 
Quakers ; and it must be confessed, they are 
the greatest favourites with our sex." 

Despite the endearing charms of young 
Quakeresses, Governor John Penn, grandson 
of the Proprietary, married Miss Ann Allen, 
a daughter of William Allen, Chief Justice of 
the Province, whose connection with the Ham- 
iltons, added to the prominent position of her 
own family, made her a most desirable parti. 
Mrs. John Penn is described by an uncle of 
her husband as possessing " good sense, great 
sweetness of temper, and prudence," to which 
may be added, if we may trust contempora- 
neous descriptions, a fair share of good looks. 
This combination of attractions seems more 
than Governor John Penn had reason to ex- 
pect, his early life having been clouded by a 
mesalliajtce, or what his family chose to consider 

94 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

as such, while his personal appearance as de- 
scribed in a letter of the time does not seem 
to have been impressive. George Roberts, in 
a letter to Samuel Powel, then in London, 
writes : " His honor Penn is a little gentleman, 
though he may govern equal to one seven foot 
high." 

Richard Penn, who was a far greater favorite 
in Pennsylvania than his brother John, had so 
far renounced Quakerism as to become the first 
President of the Jockey Club, and to be married 
at Christ Church to Miss Polly Masters. Miss 
Masters, who was only a little over sixteen at 
the time of her marriage, in May, 1772, was 
living with her mother in her home on the 
south side of Market, between Fifth and Sixth 
Streets. This house, which Mrs. Masters 
conveyed to her daughter two days before her 
marriage, was afterwards occupied by General 
Howe, and later by General Benedict Arnold, 
by the French Consul, M. Holker, and by 
Robert Morris, who bought the house some- 
time prior to 1787.* During the sessions of 
the Convention of 1787, General Washington 
stayed with Mr. Morris in this house, and 
■when the seat of government was removed 
from New York to Philadelphia, it w^as con- 
sidered the most suitable building in the city 
for the residence of the Chief Executive, al- 

* A fire broke out in this house in 1780, during M. 
Holker's residence, and nothing but the first floor was 
saved. After Mr. Morris bought the house, he rebuilt and 
enlarged it. 

95 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

though Mr. Twining described it as " a small 
red brick house next door to a hair-dresser." 

Mr. and Mrs. Morris occupied a house at the 
corner of Sixth and Market, on the same side 
of the street. 

Although the President and his private sec- 
retary, Mr. Tobias Lear, had entered into an 
apparently exhaustive correspondence upon 
the furnishing of this establishment, from 
dravying-room mirrors to mangles for the 
kitchen, there ■were doubtless many matters 
of household and domestic economy that re- 
mained to be discussed by Mrs. "Washington 
and Mrs. Morris. Mrs. Washington had com- 
plained in her letters of the restraints of her 
life in New York ; but in her letters from Phila- 
delphia we find no such expressions. In addi- 
tion to the men and vi^omen who had come to 
the capital with the administration, the Presi- 
dent and Mrs. Washington numbered many 
friends among the resident population of Phila- 
delphia. 

Chief among their friends w^ere the members 
of the Morris family. The President and Robert 
Morris had been fast friends during the long 
w^ar, and to him and his partner, Mr. Thomas 
Willing, the Commander-in-Chief had often 
turned for aid when the financial resources of 
the Congress were at the lowest ebb. For both 
of these gentlemen the President entertained 
a sincere regard, while Mrs. Washington and 
Mrs. Morris in this time of peace renewed 
their friendship formed during the anxious days 

96 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

of the Revolution. These two ladies seem to 
have been most congenial in their tastes, 
visiting one another informally and frequently 
driving together, while the young people of 
the two families were upon intimate terms. 

Mrs. Washington's granddaughter, Nellie 
Custis, -was always with her, and at times her 
t'wo elder grandchildren, Eliza and Martha 
Parke Custis. In a letter written April 5, 1795, 
Mrs. Washington says that the girls were going 
to Miss Morris's wedding the next Thursday. 
This was Hetty Morris, the eldest daughter of 
Robert Morris, who married James Marshall, 
of Virginia, a brother of Chief-Justice Mar- 
shall. 

The fair faces of Hetty Morris and her sister 
Maria, afterwards the wife of Henry Nixon, 
have been preserved for this generation by the 
brush of Stuart. This portrait represents two 
girls seated before a chess-board, from which 
their eyes have wandered to look out from the 
canvas, v/ith the innocence and serene hope- 
fulness of girlhood, which are among its pecu- 
liar charms, and which Stuart knew so well 
how to portray. 

The Treasurer of the United States, Samuel 
Meredith, lived nearly opposite the State 
House, at 171 Chestnut Street. An old friend- 
ship existed between the President and the 
Meredith family, and while in Philadelphia, 
before the Revolution, attending the meetings 
of the Jockey Club, Washington had stopped 
with Mr. Reese Meredith, the father of Samuel 
7 97 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Meredith, and in a letter written by Mrs. 
Meredith to her husband some years earher 
she says : " General Washington invited him- 
self to breakfast with me yesterday. Tom 
and the girls were at table, and behaved ex- 
tremely well. It is observed the General is 
very grave. I do not w^onder at it. A man 
of his reflection must feel strongly our present 
unhappy situation." This letter was evidently 
written during the sessions of the Convention 
of 1787, when General ^Vashington is said to 
have been, at times, greatly discouraged with 
regard to the result of its deliberations. In 
the letter, which is chiefly taken up with 
family matters, Mrs. Meredith speaks of the 
strict economy that she is exercising in order 
to give her children educational advantages. 
This need for economy was probably due to 
the depreciation of the Continental currency, 
as General Meredith had advanced large sums 
of money for the support of the government 
during the Revolution, and was one of the chief 
contributors to the Bank of North America. 
These loans are said to have amounted to 
$140,000. 

In a diary, kept during his visit to Philadel- 
phia in 1787, General Washington recorded 
many tea-drinkings and evenings spent at the 
Merediths'. Although not generally spoken of 
as sociable in his tastes, Washington seems to 
have been somewhat addicted to tea-drinkings, 
as during this visit we find frequent mention 
of drinking tea with Mr. and Mrs. Samuel 

98 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Powel, with Mr. Tench Francis, " in a large 
circle," with Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence, Mr. 
George Clymer, Mr. Francis Hopkinson, Miss 
Cadwalader, and at Dr. Shippen's " with Mrs. 
Livingston's party." * 

The Washington chariot was often to be 
seen on its w^ay to Lansdowne to the Penns 
and afterwards to visit the Binghams in the 
same place, or to Belmont, the country-seat 
of Judge Peters. Most cordial relations ex- 
isted between the Washington family and the 
Chews, the younger daughters of the house 
being especial favorites of the President and 
Mrs. Washington. The former, in his Phila- 
delphia diary of 1787, recorded that he "dined 
at Mrs. Chew's with the wedding guests." 
This was the wedding of Miss Peggy Chew, 
who married Colonel John Eager Howard, of 
Maryland. Mr. Benjamin Chew w^as then 
living at no South Third Street. 

Other friends of the President and Mrs. 
Washington, living on Third Street, were 
Colonel and Mrs. John Cox, of Bloomsbury, 
New Jersey. Colonel Cox had rendered good 
service to the Continental Army as Assistant 
Quartermaster under General Greene, the 
latter having made the appointment of John 
Cox and Charles Pettit to serve under him a 
condition of his acceptance of the position of 



* This was Dr. William Shippen's daughter, Anne Hume 
Shippen, who married Henry Beekman Livingston, of New 
York, a son of Robert R. Livingston. 

99 



E«#670. 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Quartermaster-General. Colonel Cox not only 
helped to provision the patriot army, but also 
supplied it with a large amount of ordnance 
from his foundry at Batisto, New Jersey. At 
his country-seat near Bloomsbury, General 
Washington had his head-quarters for a time, 
and here the Marquis de Lafayette and Ro- 
chambeau also enjoyed the hospitality of Col- 
onel Cox's home, where they had the pleasure 
of conversing in their own language with Mrs. 
Cox's French aunts, the Demoiselles Cheva- 
lier. 

Colonel Cox brought his family to Philadel- 
phia about 1791, and in this city Mrs. Cox w^as 
greatly beloved and admired. One evening, 
at a ball, a gentleman said to Colonel Cox, 
indicating a young matron in the company, 
" W^ho is that angel of a w^oman?" "My 
wife," promptly replied the proud husband. 
Upon one occasion, when Bishop "White met 
Mrs. Cox upon the street, he said, quite 
seriously, " Did you know, my dear madam, 
that a woe was pronounced upon you in the 
Bible ? " The fair lady appearing rather sur- 
prised, the genial Bishop added, " "Woe unto 
you when all men speak ^vell of you." 

The home of Judge Peters, at Belmont, 
which v^^as situated upon a high bluff over- 
looking the Schuylkill, was a frequent resort 
of the President. The society of this versa- 
tile and humorous jurist, whose witty sayings 
as well as his substantial aid had served to 
brighten some of the darkest hours of the war, 

zoo 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

was most agreeable to Washington, who, de- 
spite his habitual gravity, thoroughly enjoyed 
a joke. 

The Marquis de Chastellux described a 
dinner at Mr. James "Wilson's, where Mr. 
Peters, then Secretary of W^ar, was the life of 
the circle, singing songs of his ow^n composi- 
tion and " an Italian cantabile " with equal 
charm. Judge Peters perpetrated many don- 
mots, but none of his own sayings were more 
incisive than a speech made about him when he 
went to London, as one of the delegates sent 
by the General Convention of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church, to confer w^ith the English 
bishops with regard to granting the episcopacy 
to the new States. It appears that Mr. Peters 
was frequently the spokesman for the delega- 
tion, and one of the bishops said in alluding to 
their conferences, " We found him a delight- 
ful companion, a most well-bred gentleman, 
an accomplished scholar, and extremely well 
informed on every possible subject, except 
upon the one for Tvhich he came to England." 
That this delegation succeeded in its object 
redounds to the credit of the learned jurist, 
who spoke v/ell, even if he was not informed 
upon all points of divinity. Of Judge Peters, 
it w^as said in this connection that he was, 
like Lord Eldon, one of the buttresses of the 
church, rather than one of the pillars, giving 
his support from the outside. 

During Mr. Peters's visit to England he dined 
at Mr. Adams's, who was then in London 

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representing the United States. Mrs. Adams 
handed him some letters ^A;'hen he entered the 
drawing-room, and described him as carrying 
them to the light, breaking the seals, and ex- 
claiming as he threw them on the table, " Not 
one from my wife ! I have lost tvo letters 
from her. The devil ! I would rather have 
found two lines from her than ten folios from 
anyone else." 

This little story goes to prove that Mr. 
Peters was very much attached to the pretty 
Quaker girl whom he had married during the 
war. This young lady, Miss Sally Robinson, 
■was a ward of General Anthony Wayne, and 
■when he wrote to her in August, 1776, asking 

whether he should address her as " Miss ," 

or by the fond familiar name she once was 
known by, she promptly replied that when he 
wrote his letter it was " Miss," but in the 
interim it had been changed to something 
else, and that she \vas as violent a Whig as 
he could wish, " which," she added, " you will 
not be surprised at when you recolect with 
■whome I have engaged to tread the Chequer'd 
paths of life, his [Mr. Peters's] sentiments is 
well known, and had I been a tory it would be 
in his power to convert me, but that you know 
I never "was." 

Another genial humorist, some years older 
than Judge Peters, was Francis Hopkinson, 
•who was appointed by the President one of 
the Judges for the district of Pennsylvania. 
This position Mr. Hopkinson held but a short 

102 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

time, as he died early in the administration. 
His son, Joseph Hopkinson, the author of 
" Hail Columbia," was later given a similar 
position by President John Quincy Adams. 
Mr. Joseph Hopkinson was upon terms of 
great intimacy with Mr. Hamilton and with 
his successor in the Treasury, Oliver Wolcott, 
after whom he named one of his sons. In 
speaking of delightful evenings passed at Mr. 
Wolcott's, Judge Hopkinson said, "When I 
mention such names as Ellsworth, Ames, 
Griswold, Goodrich, and Tracy, you may 
imagine w^hat a rich, intellectual society it 
was. I w^ill not say that we have no such 
men now, but I do not know v^here they are." 

Miss Sally McKean, the daughter of Chief- 
Justice McKean, wrote with enthusiasm of 
Mrs. Washington's first reception in Phila- 
delphia, held on Christmas night ; and Mrs. \ 
John Adams has left one of her brilliant pen- 
pictures of the same scene. 

In her first letter written from the capital, 
Mrs. Adams was inclined to depreciate the 
social attractions of Philadelphia in com- 
parison w^ith those of New York ; she after- 
wards spoke w^ith great admiration of the 
society of the Quaker City. Perhaps Mrs. 
Adams's earlier letters from Bush Hill were 
colored by the discomfort of her surroundings. 
She described herself as living in a house, 
" green painted," at which the painters were 
still at work when she arrived, with no fire 
except in the kitchen. Mrs. Adams's woes, 
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v/hich were evidently real and tangible ones, 
can be best understood from her own ex- 
pressions : 

" On Friday we arrived here, and late on 
Saturday evening we got our furniture in. On 
Sunday, Thomas was laid up with the rheu- 
matism ; on Monday, I \vas obliged to give 
Louisa an emetic ; on Tuesday, Mrs. Briesler 
w^as taken with her old pain in her stomach ; 
and, to complete the w^hole, on Thursday, 
Polly was seized with a violent pleuritic fever. 
She has been tw^ice bled, a blister upon her 
side, and has not been out of bed since, only 
as she is taken up to have her bed made. 

" And every day, the stormy ones excepted, 
from eleven until three, the house is filled v/ith 
ladies and gentlemen." 

Mrs. Adams adds that Mrs. Tobias Lear, 
wife of one of the President's secretaries, has 
just called to see her and administered the 
cold comfort of telling her that she was better 
off than Mrs. Washington would be w^hen 
she arrived, as the additions to her house 
would not be completed for a year. Last, but 
not least, Mrs. Adams had several of her best 
gowns ruined on the voyage from Boston, 
"the blessed effects of tumbling about the 
w^orld. Poor Mrs. Knox," she says, " is in 
still greater tribulation, as the vessel which 
sailed w^ith her furniture on board has not 
been heard of, although considerably overdue." 

After thus freely pouring out her sorrows 
to her sympathizing daughter, Mrs. Adams 

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assures her that she endures all these dis- 
comforts without repining, and frequently 
emerges from the confusion of her household 
to enjoy visits from Mrs. Bingham, Nancy 
Hamilton, and Mrs. Otis. She says that she 
is thankful to have a decent room in which to 
receive these ladies, and is pleased to find Mrs. 
Bingham more amiable and beautiful than ever, 
while " our Nancy Hamilton is the same un- 
affected affable girl we formerly knew her." * 

A few w^eeks later Mrs. Adams wrote of a 
dance at the Chew^s', a supper at Mr. Clymer's, 
and various festivities, including an Assembly 
ball, attended by "the President and Madam, 
the Vice-President and Madam, Ministers of 
State and their Madams, etc." " I should," 
she says, " spend a very dissipated winter, 
if I were to accept of one-half the invitations 
I receive, particularly to the routes, and tea 
and cards. Even Saturday evening is not 
excepted, and I refused an invitation of that 
kind for this evening." 

* This was Ann Hamilton, daughter of the third Andrews 
Hamilton and his Jewish wife, Abigail Franks, and great- 
granddaughter of the counsellor, whose able and brilliant 
defence of the liberty of the press in the John Peter 
Zenger trial, in New York, made proverbial the ability of 
the Philadelphia lawyer. Miss Ann Hamilton became the 
wife of James Lyle, of Philadelphia, in 1792. Although 
the Hamilton name has disappeared from Philadelphia 
life, the family is still represented by Mrs. James Lyle's 
descendants under the names of Morris, Kuhn, Evans, 
and Mahan in America, and in England by Becketts, 
Bruces, and Whichcotes. 

105 



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Although this daughter of the Puritans was 
opposed to festivities on Saturday evenings, 
she was not averse to theatre-going, as she 
v/rote that the managers had very civilly 
placed a box at the disposal of the Vice- 
President which he had promised to use 
whenever the President v/ished to attend the 
theatre. " Last Wednesday," Mrs. Adams 
says, "we were all there. The house is 
equal to most of the theatres we meet w^ith 
out of France. It is very neat, and prettily 
fitted up; the actors did their best; 'The 
School for Scandal' was the play. I missed 
the divine Farren ; but upon the w^hole it w^as 
very well performed." 

A younger and less experienced observer of 
these gay scenes w^as Miss Charlotte Cham- 
bers, v/ho wrote to her mother from Philadel- 
phia of the many delights of the capital. Miss 
Chambers was so fortunate as to be taken to 
drive by Mrs. Washington, with whom she had 
much pleasant conversation, and for whom 
she entertained a warm admiration. To the 
eyes of an unsophisticated girl, fresh from 
her quiet home in Chambersburg, with its 
many Scotch Presbyterian restrictions, an 
Assembly ball must have seemed equal to the 
most elaborate function at the Court of St. 
James. 

In describing a ball given on the President's 
birthday, Miss Chambers dvv^ells upon the con- 
trast presented by the rich elegance of Mrs. 
Washington's attire, and the elaborate orna- 
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ments, feathers, and jewels worn by the wives 
of the foreign ambassadors, whose costumes 
"glittered from the floor to the summit of 
their head-dress." 

Although the capital was a gay whirl of 
delight to the village girl, she was discrimi- 
nating in her estimates, and never seemed to 
have had her wise little head turned by all 
the attention she received. She wrote to her 
mother of dining at Mrs. John Nicholson's, of 
spending the evening at Mrs. Madison's, and 
of walks -with Miss Binney, during which they 
met Augustus Muhlenberg, Septimus Clay- 
pole, and General Scott, of Kentucky. The 
latter gentleman had just called upon Miss 
Chambers and Miss Binney to propose a party 
to Gray's Gardens, a favorite pleasure resort 
on the Schuylkill River. Miss Chambers evi- 
dently enjoyed the society of the Kentucky 
gentleman, as she recorded the fact that he 
had an extensive acquaintance, great original- 
ity, and was constantly endeavoring to vary 
and increase their amusements. Admired and 
feted as she was in this city, Miss Chambers 
\vas not destined to marry a Philadelphian. 
She became the wife of Israel Ludlow in 1796, 
and was w^ith him a pioneer in the settlement 
of Ohio. 

Balls were always given on the President's 
birthday. Mr. Isaac Weld, in his travels, 
speaks of one birthday, w^hen Washington 
received from eleven o'clock in the morning 
until three in the afternoon in the large parlors 
107 



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on the first floor of his house, while Mrs. 
Washington received in her drawing-room up- 
stairs. After this long day in company, the 
President and his wife attended a ball in the 
evening, which was held this year at " Rick- 
ett's riding place," on Chestnut Street above 
Sixth. 

In speaking of one of Mrs. Washington's 
drawing-rooms, Mr. Adams said: "As the 
evening was fair and mild, there was a great 
circle of ladies and a greater of gentlemen. 
General Wayne w^as there in glory. This 
man's feelings must be w^orth a guinea a min- 
ute. The Pennsylvanians claim him as theirs, 
and show him a marked respect." This was 
when General Wayne returned from his suc- 
cessful expedition against the Indians on the 
banks of the Miami, after an absence of three 
years. The victorious General was met by 
three troops of Light Horse, by v^^hich he was 
escorted into the city amid the ringing of bells, 
the firing of salutes from the Centre Square, 
and other demonstrations of joy on the part 
of the thousands of citizens who crowded the 
streets to ^A7elcome the hero of the hour. 

When Mr. Jefferson lived in Philadelphia, he 
showed his preference for rural life by estab- 
lishing himself near Gray's Ferry. In a letter 
written to Mrs. Randolph he says : " V/e are 
in sight both of Bartram's and Gray's gardens, 
but have the river between them and us." He 
speaks of sauntering on the banks of the 
Schuylkill with his younger daughter, Maria, 

1 08 




Colonel Joliu Cox 
Page 99 




Major-General Anthony Wayne 



4 



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who was in the habit of spending her Sundays 
out-of-doors with him. 

The life of the Secretary of State was not, 
at this time, marked by the extreme simplicity 
that his latter-day followers claim for him, as 
he kept five horses, and in addition to his 
French steward. Petit, and his daughter's 
maid, had four or five men-servants in his 
establishment. 

Mr. Jefferson, whose tastes were scientific 
and literary, found much more to interest him 
in the social life of Philadelphia than in that 
of New York. Here, in addition to the distin- 
guished men gathered together from the differ- 
ent States of the Union, w^as a congenial circle 
composed of members of the Philosophical 
Society, over which Mr. Jefferson was destined 
to preside later. In this circle were those noted 
for wit, geniality, and charm of manner, as well 
as for learning, — such men as the Reverend 
William White and Dr. Ashbel Green, both 
Chaplains of Congress ; Dr. Abercrombie, Dr. 
Blackwell, Dr. \Ai^illiam Smith, Provost of the 
College of Philadelphia, Dr. Benjamin Rush, 
Dr. Caspar Wistar, and Mr. John Vaughan, 
■who was a warm personal friend of Mr. Jeffer- 
son's, although opposed to him in politics. 
William Bartram, who, like his father, John 
Bartram, was an enthusiastic botanist, was a 
near neighbor of Mr. Jefferson's, although, as 
he says, separated by the Schuylkill. Mr. 
Bartram's botanical garden w^as a source of 
much pleasure to Mr. Jefferson, who w^rote to 
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SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

his son-in-law for seeds for Mr. Bartram, 
being especially anxious to give him those of 
the Kentucky coffee tree. 

David Rittenhouse was then President of 
the Philosophical Society, and his nephews, 
Benjamin Smith Barton, Professor of Natural 
History in the College of Philadelphia, and 
Judge William Barton, who made the design 
for the seal of the United States,* vi^ere asso- 
ciated with him in this learned institution. 

For the genius of Rittenhouse the Virginia 
statesman had a sincere admiration ; indeed, 
the language used by him in speaking of the 
astronomer's ability seems almost extrava- 
gant: "As an artist," said Mr. Jefferson, "he 
has exhibited as great a proof of mechanical 
genius as the world has ever produced. He 
has not, indeed, made a world, but he has by 

* As there has been considerable discussion with regard 
to the Great Seal of the United States, it is interesting to 
know that letters in possession of members of the Bar- 
ton family, in the handwriting of Mr. Barton, Charles 
Thomson, Secretary of Congress, and General Washing- 
ton, prove that Mr. Barton's design w^as accepted and is 
the one now in use. General Washington wrote at length, 
complimenting Mr. Barton upon his design, and the Sec- 
retary of Congress said, in a letter written to Mr. Barton, 
June 24, 1782, " I enclose you a copy of the device by 
w^hich you have displayed your skill in heraldic science, 
which meets with general approbation." 

In 1789 William Barton was nominated by President 
Washington one of the Judges of the Western Territory. 
(" The Flag of the United States and other National 
Flags," by George Henry Preble, pp. 690-693.) 

xxo 




Judge William Barton 
By Charles Willson Peale 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN' 

imitation approached nearer its Maker than 
any man who has lived, from the creation to 
this day." 

This was in allusion to the celebrated plane- 
tarium of Rittenhouse, usually called the 
"Orrery," of w^hich Joel Barlow in his " Co- 
lumbiad " wrote in much the same strain as 
Mr. Jefferson : 

" See the sage Rittenhouse, with ardent eye 
Lift the long tube and pierce the starry sky ; 
Clear in his view the circling systems roll, 
And broader splendors gild the central pole. 
He marks w^hat laws the eccentric wanderers bind, 
Copies creation in his forming mind." 

David Rittenhouse, a self-taught mathema- 
tician, the son of a farmer of Norriton Town- 
ship, whose instruction w^as gained from some 
books and tools left him by an uncle, was one 
of the most remarkable men of his time. Read- 
ing of young Rittenhouse covering the handle 
of his plough, the fences, or whatever came 
nearest to him in the course of his farm work, 
with mathematical calculations, we are re- 
minded of another Pennsylvania boy who drew 
pictures in the pauses of his ploughing, and of 
still another youth, across the water among 
the hills of Scotland, w^ho brightened his daily 
task by singing of the "wee crimson-tipped" 
flower that v/as turned up in the furrow. The 
genius of Rittenhouse, like that of his brothers 
in art and poetry, although united to extreme 
modesty, was of the kind that could not be 
suppressed by obstacles and difficulties. The 
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SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

elder Rittenhouse much preferred to have his 
son remain upon his farm, but wisely yielded 
to his importunities and allo-wed him to enter 
upon philosophical and mechanical pursuits, 
giving him money to purchase such tools as 
were necessary for his work. Afterwards the 
Reverend Thomas Barton, who married a 
sister of Mr. Rittenhouse, and went to England 
in 1754, brought his brother-in-law a number 
of scientific books. At the age of seventeen, 
young Rittenhouse constructed a ^vooden clock 
of very ingenious \vorkmanship. The cele- 
brated "Orrery" was completed some years 
later. 

Mr. Rittenhouse, being known as the best 
mathematician in the Colonies, was appointed 
to settle the limits between New York and 
New Jersey, and to draw a still more momen- 
tous boundary line, that between Pennsyl- 
vania and Maryland, known as the Mason and 
Dixon's line. 

With men so learned among its citizens, 
and with an association as interesting to 
scientists as the Philosophical Society, it is 
not strange that many foreigners of distinction 
came to Philadelphia. Dr. Joseph Priestley 
was at the capital during some months of the 
second administration, living on High Street, 
r^'. where Mr. Twining visited him. Mr. Adams 
wrote to his wife of dining with Dr. Priestley 
at the President's, where the English guest 
enunciated a doctrine as pleasing to the learned 
as to the gay, which was that " old age was 

112 




M:, . William Barton 

By Charles Willsoii Peale 

Page 213 



i 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

the pleasantest part of life, and that he had 
found it so." 

During the first summer of the second 
administration the dreaded scourge of yellow- 
fever visited Philadelphia with great severity. 
Mrs. Drinker recorded in her diary under date 
of August 23, 1793 : 

" A Fever prevails in the City, particularly 
in Water St. between Race and Arch Sts. of 
ye malignant kind; numbers have died of it. 
Some say it -was occasioned by damaged 
Coffee and Fish, Tvhich were stored at W"^ 
Smiths', others say it w^as imported in a 
Vessel from Cape Franco is, w^hich lay at our 
wharf, or at ye wharf back our store. Doctor 
Hutchinson is ordered by ye Governor to 
enquire into ye report. He found, as 'tis said, 
upwards of 70 persons sick in that square of 
different disorders ; several of this putrid or 
bilious fever. Some are ill in Water St. 
between Arch and Market Sts. and some in 
Race Street. 'Tis really an alarming and 
serious time. 

•'H. S. D. [Henry S. Drinker] has brought 
the Books up to the House, that he may be 
as little as possible in ye lower street." 

Mr. Jefferson wrote on September 2 : " A 
malignant fever has been generated in the 
filth of the docks of Philadelphia, which has 
given great alarm. It is considerably infec- 
tious. At first it was confined to Water 
Street, but it is now in many parts of the 
city." A little later, Mr. Jefferson, who was 
8 113 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

detained in the stricken city by important 
public affairs, wrote: "The President goes 
off the day after tomorrow, as he had always 
intended, Knox then takes flight. Hamilton 
is ill of the fever, as is said. Poor Hutcheson 
dined with me on Friday sennight, was taken 
that day on his return home and died the day 
before yesterday. It is difficult to say Avhether 
republican interest has suffered more by his 
death or Genet's extravagance." 

This was the distinguished Dr. James Hutch- 
inson. Another public-spirited man who lost 
his life at this time was Jonathan Dickinson 
Sergeant, who was associated with Dr. Hutch- 
inson and others in an effort to discover the 
cause of the prevailing epidemic, as well as to 
care for the sick and dying. 

The President, with his usual disregard of 
his own safety and comfort, expressed his 
desire to stay at his post and send Mrs. 
Washington and her grandchildren to Mount 
Vernon. The resolute little lady, however, 
refused to be sent away without her husband, 
although, as Washington wrote to Tobias 
Lear, their house " was in a manner blockaded 
by the disorder, and was becoming every day 
more fatal." Finally, not being willing to 
subject Mrs. Washington and the children to 
the danger of infection any longer, the Presi- 
dent, with his family, set out for Mount Ver- 
non on the loth of September. 

Upon his return to the capital, in November, 
the President took a house in Germantown, 
114 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

in which suburban resort many Philadelphians 
had taken refuge ; and members of Congress, 
as they arrived from other States, gathered 
around him. Mr. Jefferson, who reached Ger- 
mantown early in November, speaks of the 
crowded state of the little town, where it 
seemed impossible to lodge another person. 
" As a great favor," he says, " I have got a 
bed in the corner of the public room of a 
tavern, and must continue till some of the 
Philadelphians make a vacancy by moving 
into the city. Then we must give from 4 to 
6 or 8 dollars a week for cuddies ■without a 
bed, and sometimes without a chair or table. 
There is not a single lodging house in the 
place." 

Later, Mr. Jefferson succeeded in securing 
quarters for Mr. Madison and Mr. Monroe, 
telling them that they would have to mess at 
the tavern across the v^ay, as they all had to 
do. By the loth of November the fever had, 
almost entirely disappeared ; but the Presi- 
dent remained in Germantown until the meet- 
ing of Congress, as Mr. Jefferson thought, 
to furnish a rallying-point for the members. 
"The refugee inhabitants," he says, "are 
very generally returning into the City. Mr. 
T. Shippen and lady are here. He is very 
slowly getting better. Still confined to the 
house. She is well and very hurley." 

The house selected for the residence of the 
Chief Executive, in the autumn of 1793, was 
one standing upon the west side of the Main 
IIS 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Street opposite Market Square. This sub- 
stantial mansion, with its garden, full of fine 
trees, running back to Greene Street, was then 
owned by Colonel Isaac Franks, of the Conti- 
nental Army. 

Again in the summer of 1794, the President 
occupied this Germantown house from July 
until late in September. It was during one, or 
both, of these residences in Germantown that 
G. W. Parke Custis was entered among the 
students of the old Academy at the corner of 
School House Lane and Greene Street. The 
Academy and the house stand to-day, ap- 
parently untouched by time and unchanged by 
the modern thirst for improvement, so called. 
The latter is the residence of Mr. Elliston 
Perot Morris, a great-grandson of Samuel Mor- 
ris, Captain of the First Troop City Cavalry. 
Looking through the grating into the garden, 
it is not difficult to people the lovely shaded 
grounds with figures of the past. The Wash- 
ingtons w^ere so fond of an out-of-door life 
that we may believe that Mrs. Washington 
often sat under one of these great trees, with 
her knitting in her hands, surrounded by her 
grandchildren, while the stately figure of the 
President was to be seen walking to and fro 
among the shrubbery alone, engaged in earnest 
thought ; or in the company of such asso- 
ciates in the government as Jefferson, Madi- 
son, Monroe, and Hamilton; or with the great 
Pennsylvania lawyers, James W^ilson, Richard 
Peters, "William Rawle, Edward Tilghman, 
116 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

f 

Attorney-General Bradford, Edward Shippen, 
William Lewis, and Tench Francis; or fight- 
ing over again the battles of the Republic in 
the congenial company of General Knox, Col- 
onel Cox, Clement Biddle, or Colonel Walter 
Stewart, whose father-in-law, Blair McClena- 
chan, was a near neighbor, as he owned Mr. 
Chew's house, a little farther up on the Main 
Street. 

Chief-Justice Chew sold his country-seat, 
Cliveden, to Mr. McClenachan in 1779, because 
he and his family were so much distressed by 
the havoc wrought there during the battle of 
Germantown that they did not wish to return 
to it. Cliveden was afterwards repurchased 
by its original owner, who was living there in 
1797, as the Duke de la Rochefoucauld, who 
left America in 1798, speaks of visiting his good 
old friend, Mr. Benjamin Chew, in his country 
home. 



X17 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 



CHAPTER IV. SALONS GAY AND 
GRAVE 

FOR some months after the British oc- 
cupation of Philadelphia, the lines of 
distinction between the Whig and Tory 
ladies were observed in the social life of the 
chief city of the Colonies, these lines having 
been defined by the absence from, or attend- 
ance of these ladies upon, certain entertain- 
ments given by the English officers. The 
following winter, a ball was given at the City 
Tavern " to the young ladies who had mani- 
fested their attachment to the cause of virtue 
and freedom, by sacrificing every convenience 
to the love of their country." 

Whether incited to retaliation by this implied 
reproach, or by General Wayne's caustic allu- 
sion to the devotion of the Tory belles to "the 
heavenly, sw^eet, pretty redcoats," Rebecca 
Franks, daring and original as she was beau- 
tiful, dressed up a small dog in the colors then 
worn in honor of the French alliance, and 
had it turned loose in the ball-room upon the 
occasion of a grand ball given to Mrs. Wash- 
ington either by M. Gerard, or by the French 
residents of Philadelphia. Somewhat less 
scathing were Miss Franks's practical jokes, 
than those inflicted by her tongue, for, like a 
flash of lightning, it was impossible to tell 
where her wit would strike ; one day General 

xz8 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Charles Lee was jeered at about his " sherry- 
vallies," while upon another the British officer, 
Sir Henry Clinton, received a sharp rebuke 
from this capricious lady. 

Chief among the Tory belles were Miss 
Franks, beautiful Margaret Shippen, — who 
married Benedict Arnold, — her sisters, Mary 
and Sarah Shippen, the Chews, Cliftons, 
Riches, Swifts, Redmans, Aliens, Bonds, and 
Hamiltons. 

M. de Chastellux, who was in Philadelphia 
in 1780 and 1781, speaks of an Assembly ball 
from which the Tory ladies were excluded, 
one young lady present. Miss Footman, being 
" rather contraband, that is to say suspected 
of not being a very good Whig." The names 
of the dances, as described by the French 
gentleman, could not have been particularly 
agreeable to Tory ears, as they, he says, "like 
the toasts w^e drink at table, have some rela- 
tion to politics. One is called the success of 
the campaign, another, the defeat of Burgoyne, 
and a third, Clinton's retreat." 

Whig and Tory ladies may have stood aloof 
from each other for a time, but connections by 
blood or marriage, similarity of tastes and edu- 
cation, and the limited area of the old city, all 
tended to draw^ them together, and before the 
war v^as fairly over we find W^higs and Tories 
dancing and drinking tea together in great har- 
mony. 

Mrs. Samuel Shoemaker wrote from Phila- 
delphia to her husband, then in London, under 
119 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

date of December, 1783: "That set [the Tory 
party] have prudently determined, as they 
cannot exist in retirement, either at Lans- 
downe or anywhere else out of public places, 
to join the others, and Gov. [John] Penn and 
lady, Mrs. Allen and mother . . . and all their 
former intimates, are now as happy at Mrs. 
Stewart's, formerly M'Clanachan, at the 
French Minister's, or in any other Whig 
Society, as ever they were in the select circle 
they once were the principals of." 

A social and international entertainment 
that brought together the various elements of 
the city, both grave and gay, was a superb ball 
given by the French Minister, M. de la Lu- 
zerne, to celebrate the birth of the Dauphin of 
France. The ne^A^s of the advent of the ill- 
starred little Dauphin, which ^vas received with 
wild demonstrations of joy by the fickle Parisian 
populace, w^as celebrated with great rejoicings 
in America, in consequence of the friendly feel- 
ing that existed between the two nations, and 
the aid and support that the French were then 
giving to the struggling Republic. 

General Washington celebrated the event at 
West Point with a dinner, a dance, and fire- 
works, and w^as in Philadelphia with Count Ro- 
chambeau by the 15th of July to participate in 
the entertainment given by the French Minister. 

Mr. Jacob Hiltzheimer and Mrs. Henry 
Drinker both speak in their diaries of this 
ball. The former writes, under date of July 
15, 1782 : *' Great doings this evening at ye 

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SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

French Ambassador's (who lives at John Dick- 
insons House up Chestnut St.) — on account of 
ye birth of ye Dauphin of France — feasting, 
fireworks, &c., for which they have been pre- 
paring for some weeks." 

The house which was occupied by M. de la 
Luzerne \A^as the old mansion on Chestnut 
Street above Sixth, in which Mrs. Ferguson 
once held her literary gatherings. At this time 
the house belonged to Mr. John Dickinson, 
from whom it was rented for the French Min- 
ister. Early in the next century it was the 
residence of Chief-Justice W^illiam Tilghman. 
This house, not being large enough for an 
entertainment upon so grand a scale as that 
planned by M. de la Luzerne, he had a great 
frame pavilion erected upon one side to serve 
as a dancing-room. This pavilion, -whose deco- 
rated ceiling was supported by pillars, was 
open upon all sides. From it the guests could 
step into the garden, where numerous seats 
w^ere placed under the trees, and where pine 
and cedar branches were arranged into arti- 
ficial groves and bow^ers. 

To give an idea of the magnitude of this 
entertainment, a w^riter of the time recorded, 
among other items, that M. de la Luzerne had 
borrowed "thirty cooks from the French army 
to assist in providing an entertainment suited 
to the size and dignity of the company." 

The 15th of July, the date named for the 
French Minister's ball, was one of great ex- 
citement in the gay world of Philadelphia, and 
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SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

in the work-a-day world as well, tradesmen 
of various kinds being in demand, and barbers 
and hair-dressers in particular requisition. 
" The shops were crowded with customers," 
relates an eye-witness of these scenes. " Hair- 
dressers w^ere retained ; tailors, milliners, and 
mantua makers w^ere to be seen covered with 
sweat and out of breath, in every street. . . . 
The morning of this day w^as ushered in by a 
corps of hair-dressers, occupying the place of 
the city watchmen. Many ladies were obliged 
to have their heads dressed between four and 
six o'clock in the morning, so great was the 
demand and so numerous were the engage- 
ments this day of the gentlemen of the comb. 
At half past seven o'clock was the time fixed 
in the tickets for the meeting of the company. 
The approach of the hour was proclaimed by 
the rattling of all the carriages in the city." 

After reading a description of this ball, 
written by Dr. Benjamin Rush to a friend, 
the splendors of the famous Mischianza lose 
some of their radiance. In point of intellect- 
ual brilliancy, the Franco-Republican enter- 
tainment far exceeded that given by the British 
officers, for here -was gathered a remarkable 
assemblage of statesmen, w^arriors, and diplo- 
mats. Dr. Rush says that forty tickets were 
sent to the governor of each State, to be dis- 
tributed by him to the principal officers and 
gentlemen of his government, and an equal 
number to General Washington, to be dis- 
tributed to the principal officers of the army. 

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SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

" About eight o'clock," says the genial chron- 
icler of this fete, " our family consisting of 
Mrs. Rush, our cousin Susan Hall, our sister 
Sukey and myself, with our good neighbors 
Mrs. and Mr. Henry, entered the apartment 
provided for this splendid entertainment. W^e 
v/ere received through a ■wide gate by the 
minister and conducted by one of his family 
to the dancing room. The scene now almost 
exceeds description. The numerous lights 
distributed through the garden, the splendour 
of the room we were approaching, the size of 
the company which w^as now collected and 
which consisted of about 700 persons ; the 
brilliancy and variety of their dresses, and the 
band of music which had just began to play, 
formed a scene which resembled enchantment. 
Sukey Stockton said 'her mind was carried be- 
yond and out of itself.'* We entered the room 
together, and here w^e saw the world in min- 
iature. All the ranks, parties, and professions 
in the city, and all the officers of government 
w^ere fully represented in this assembly. Here 
were ladies and gentlemen of the most an- 
cient as well as modern families. Here w^ere 

* Susannah Stockton, a sister of Mrs. Benjamin Rush 
and of Richard, the signer, married Lewis Pintard, who 
belonged to a prominent Huguenot family of New Rochelle, 
New York. Another sister, Abigail Stockton, married Cap- 
tain Pintard, a brother of Lewis Pintard. The Stockton 
sisters all spent their girlhood at Morven, the old Stockton 
mansion at Princeton, New Jersey, still standing and in 
the possession of the Stockton family. 
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SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

lawyers, doctors and ministers of the gospel. 
Here were the learned faculty of the college, 
and among them many who knew^ not whether 
Cicero plead in Latin or in Greek ; or whether 
Horace was a Roman or a Scotchman. Here 
were painters and musicians, poets and phi- 
losophers, and men who were never moved by 
beauty or harmony, or by rhyme or reason. 
Here were merchants and gentlemen of inde- 
pendent fortunes, as well as many respectable 
and opulent tradesmen. Here were whigs 
and men who formerly bore the character of 
tories. Here were the president and members 
of congress, governors of states and generals 
of armies ; ministers of finance and foreign 
affairs. In a word the assembly was truly 
republican. Here were to be seen heroes and 
patriots in close conversation with each other. 
Washington and Dickinson held several dia- 
logues together. Here were to be seen men 
conversing with each other who had appeared 
in all the different stages of the American war. 
Dickinson and Morris frequently reclined to- 
gether against the same pillar. Here were to 
be seen states-men and warriors, from the 
opposite ends of the continent, talking of the 
history of the war in their respective states. 
Rutledge and Walton from the south, here 
conversed with Lincoln and Duane from the 
east and north. Here and there, too, appeared 
a solitary character walking among the arti- 
ficial bowers in the garden. The celebrated 
author of 'Common Sense' retired frequently 

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from the company to analyze his thoughts and 
to enjoy the repast of his own original ideas. 
Here were to be seen men who had opposed 
each other in the councils and parties of their 
country, forgetting all former resentments and 
exchanging civilities with each other. Mifflin 
and Reed accosted each other w^ith all the 
kindness of ancient friends. Here were to be 
seen men of various countries and languages, 
such as Americans and Frenchmen, English- 
men and Scotchmen, Germans and Irishmen, 
conversing with each other like children of 
one father. And lastly, here were to be seen 
the extremes of the civilized and savage life." 
Dr. Rush further explains the striking contrast 
mentioned in this last sentence by saying that 
an Indian chief was present "in his savage 
habit and the Count Rochambeau in his splen- 
did and expensive uniform." 

Several instances, of great generosity and 
thoughtfulness on the part of the French 
Minister, are recorded. In order to humor the 
taste of the populace for spectacular enter- 
tainments, M. de la Luzerne had a board fence 
on one side of the grounds pulled down, and 
had a light, open fence put up in its place, 
through which a full view of the dancing-room 
could be had. By this means thousands of 
people v/ere able to witness the brilliant scene. 
In addition to this, says Dr. Rush, and whether 
speaking seriously or not it is impossible to 
tell, " Under the orchestra there w^as a private 
room where several quaker ladies, whose dress 
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SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

•would not permit them to join the assembly, 
were indulged with a sight of the company 
through a gauze curtain. 

" This little attention to the curiosity of the 
ladies marks in the strongest manner the min- 
ister's desire to oblige everybody." 

If the last was a little jest of the good Doc- 
tor's, intended for a Quaker friend to whom he 
w^as writing, it was perpetrated w^ith admirable 
skill and vraisemblance. Another instance is re- 
lated of the kindness of M. de la Luzerne, who 
proposed to distribute two pipes of Madeira 
wine and six hundred dollars in small change 
among the populace, which was gathered 
around the house and the adjoining streets to 
the number of several thousands. " From this 
act of generosity," says Dr. Rush, "he was 
dissuaded by some gentlemen of the city, who 
w^ere afraid that it might prove the occasion 
of a riot or some troublesome proceedings. 
The money devoted to this purpose was char- 
itably distributed among the prisoners in the 
jails, and patients in the hospitals in the city." 
That the populace might not be entirely de- 
prived of some share in the rejoicings of this 
fete de naissance, some fireworks were exhibited 
from an open lot near the Minister's house. 
These the little Quaker children in the neigh- 
borhood were permitted to enjoy, as Mrs. 
Drinker relates that " C. James and our chil- 
dren spent part of ye evening on ye top of ye 
House, >vhere they could see ye Fireworks." 
At the supper, which was served in three large 
126 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

tents so connected as to make one room, Dr. 
Rush says that " the Chevalier de la Luzerne 
appeared with all the splendour of the minister 
and all the politeness of a gentleman, as he 
walked along the tables and addressed himself 
in particular to every lady." 

Superb as was this entertainment, the con- 
viviality and ease essential to complete en- 
joyment seemed to be lost sight of in the 
impressive decorum of the scene. While ad- 
miring this excessive "good breeding," which 
led several gentlemen to remark that " the 
company looked and behaved more as if they 
were worshipping than eating," Dr. Rush 
found something lacking, a void that could 
only have been filled by an ode to the Dauphin, 
sung or repeated, which, he thought, would 
have served to draw the company together in 
a genuine rejoicing. That an ode had been 
composed for this occasion by Mr. William 
Smith, son of the Reverend W^illiam Smith, 
Dr. Rush states in his letter, adding, " but for 
what cause I know not, it did not make its 
appearance." 

As M. de Chastellux does not describe the 
grand fete of his friend and compatriot, we 
may conclude that he was not in Philadelphia 
at the time. He travelled much, North and 
South, was in Williamsburg, Virginia, in May 
of this year, and later in New England, visiting 
Colonel and Mrs. Langdon and Colonel Went- 
worth, in Portsmouth, and the Tracys, in 
Newburyport. 

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SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Mr. John Tracy, the most considerable mer- 
chant of the place, entertained M. de Chas- 
tellux and the French gentleman with him. 
Mrs. Tracy and her sister, and a cousin. Miss 
Lee, ^vho is described as possessing an agree- 
able and spirituelle face, made the evening pass 
pleasantly ; Miss Lee sang, and induced M. de 
Vaudreuil to join her. After the ladies had 
left the room, M. de Chastellux relates that 
the gentlemen continued drinking Mr. Tracy's 
very excellent Madeira and sherry, and that, 
in consequence of pipes which were intro- 
duced, according to the custom of the country, 
the other gentlemen — not M. de Chastellux — 
lost their heads, and were glad to be led home 
to their beds. The French gentleman wished 
it to be clearly understood that it was the 
American pipes, and not the imported Madeira, 
that brought about this unhappy state of af- 
fairs. 

In Boston M. de Chastellux was welcomed 
by his " ancie?ine connoissance M. Brick," with 
whom he dined, and by -whom he was intro- 
duced to the Assembly balls, of which this 
gentleman, Mr. Samuel Breck, was a man- 
ager.* Here the French gentleman had the 

* Mr. Samuel Breck, of Boston, father of the Honorable 
Samuel Breck, author of the *' Recollections." Mr. Samuel 
Breck, the elder, was an opulent merchant who lived at the 
corner of Winter and Tremont Streets, Boston, which city 
he left in 1792, on account of the " iniquitous taxes," and 
settled at 321 High Street, Philadelphia, where he spent 
the remainder of his days. 

128 




Honorable Samuel Breck 
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SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

pleasure of seeing the Marquis de Vaudreuil 
open the ball with Lady Temple ; and after 
observing the grace with which M. de I'Aig- 
uille, the elder, and M. Truguet each per- 
formed in the minuet, he enjoyed the still 
greater satisfaction of contrasting, to the ad- 
vantage of his own compatriots, the dancing 
of Americans and Frenchmen. Towards the 
ladies, M. de Chastellux was more compli- 
mentary, pronouncing Mrs. Jarvis, her sister. 
Miss Betsy Broom, and Mrs. Whitmore the 
best dancers in the room. Although the women 
present were well dressed, and the coup d'ceil 
of the dancing-room superior to a similar as- 
sembly at the City Tavern in Philadelphia, M. 
de Chastellux was obliged to admit that the 
dressing was less elegant and tasteful than in 
the Quaker City. 

Upon another occasion M. de Chastellux 
records his pride in the dancing of two other 
fellow-countrymen, the Comte de Damas and 
the Vicomte de Noailles. This was at a ball 
given in Philadelphia. " Strangers," he says, 
"have generally the privilege of being compli- 
mented w^ith the handsomest women. The 
Comte de Damas * had Mrs. Bingham for a 
partner, and the Vicomte de Noailles, Miss 
Shippen. Both of them, like true philoso- 
phers, testified a great respect for the manners 

* This was probably Comte Charles de Damas, as M. 
de Chastellux repeats the name frequently in his letters. 
Guillaume Matthieu Comte Dumas was in America at the 
9 129 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

of the country by not quitting their handsome 
partners the whole evening; in other respects 
they were the admiration of all the assembly, 
from the grace and nobleness with which they 
danced ; I may even assert, to the honor of 
my country, that they surpassed a Chief Jus- 
tice of Carolina (Mr. Pendleton) and tw^o 
members of Congress, one of whom (Mr. 
Duane) passed however for being by lo per 
cent more lively than all the other dancers. 
The ball was suspended towards midnight, by 
a supper served in the manner of coffee, on 
several different tables. On passing into the 
dining room, the Chevalier de la Luzerne pre- 
sented his hand to Mrs. Morris, and gave her 
the precedence, an honor pretty generally 
bestowed upon her, as she is the richest 
woman in the city." 

M. de Chastellux was quite correct in speak- 
ing of Mrs. Robert Morris as a great social 
leader at this time. Her husband's wealth and 
important position in the Republic, the stand- 
ing of her family, and her o\vn tact and ability 
all combined to make Mrs. Morris an impor- 
tant personage in the fashionable world. Mrs. 
, Drinker w^rites of her daughter, and her young 

same time, and in his memoirs speaks of Count Charles de 
Damas, wrho was, like himself an aide-de-camp to Count 
Rochambeau. The names and titles are easily confused. 
The Comte Dumas -was the more distinguished of the 
two, having later served as aide-de-camp to Lafayette and 
fought with Napoleon, while under Louis Philippe he was 
made Councillor of State and a Peer of France. 
130 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

friends, having gone to see the greenhouse of 
Robert Morris as one of the sights of the town. 
This was at his country-place, " The Hills," as 
Mrs. Drinker says that the distance was over 
three miles. 

Mr. Samuel Breck, in recalling the elegance 
of the Morris household, does not dwell upon 
the white liveries of the servants, as does 
another writer of the time, but he says very 
emphatically that such luxury was to be found 
nowhere else in America. " It \vas the pure 
and unalloyed which the Morrises sought to 
place before their friends, v/ithout the abate- 
ments that so frequently accompany the dis- 
plays of fashionable life. No badly cooked or 
cold dinners at their tables ; no pinched fires 
upon their hearths ; no paucity of waiters ; no 
awkward loons in their drawing rooms. "We 
have no such establishments now. God in 
his mercy gives us plenty of provisions, but 
it would seem as if the devil possessed the 
cooks." 

M. de Chastellux says of Mr. Morris: "He 
is a large man, very simple in his manners, 
his mind is subtle and acute, a zealous repub- 
lican and an Epicurean philosopher, he has 
always played a distinguished part in social 
life and in affairs." 

One of M. de Chastellux's earliest visits was 
to Mrs. Richard Bache, -whom he found en- 
gaged, in company with Mrs. Joseph Reed 
and a number of Philadelphia ladies, in making 
shirts for the Continental soldiers. "Simple 
131 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

in her manners," he says, " like her respect- 
able father [Dr. Franklin] she possesses his 
benevolence." 

No traveller who visited America at this 
time, seems to have so thoroughly understood 
the position and capabilities of the women 
of the Republic as did M. de Chastellux. 
After being delightfully entertained at Colonel 
Samuel Meredith's, where Miss Polly Cad- 
walader made a conquest of Mr. Lynch, while 
Mrs. Meredith conversed with the narrator 
upon literature, poetry, romance, and, above 
all, on the history of France, upon which she 
was well informed, the admiring Frenchman 
constructed the follow^ing somewhat involved 
epigram: "It must be acknowledged, with 
regard to the ladies who compose it [Mrs. 
Meredith's circle] that none of them is what 
may be called handsome; this mode of ex- 
pression is, perhaps, a little too circuitous for 
the American women, but if they have wit 
enough to comprehend, and good sense enough 
to be flattered with it, their eulogium will be 
complete." 

M. de Chastellux supped, dined, and danced 
with both Whigs and Tories. He makes par- 
ticular mention of such leading Whig families 
as the Peterses, W^illings, Morrises, Powels, 
Cadwaladers,* and Binghams. At the house 

* As early as 1766, soon after the repeal of the Stamp 

Act, Colonel Lambert Cadwalader, after eulogizing Mr. 

Pitt for his share in the good work, wrote to Colonel George 

Morgan, of Pittsburgh, in the following patriotic and pro- 

132 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

of the Virginia statesman, Colonel Theodoric 
Bland, he drank tea, which function the 
French Marquis described as a sort of as- 
sembly, pretty much like the conversazioni of 
Italy. Here the Marquis de Chastellux met 
Mr. Izard, of South Carolina, and Arthur Lee, 
both recently returned from Europe, and his 
three compatriots, the Marquis de Lafayette, 
the Vicomte de Noailles, and the Comte de 
Damas. The scene, he says, "was decorated 
by several married and unmarried ladies, 
among whom Miss Shippen, daughter of Dr. 
Shippen, and a cousin of Mrs. Arnold, claimed 
particular distinction." 

Dr. William Shippen was a stanch friend of 
the administration and of the Chief Executive, 
having served the latter during the war as 
Director-General of the Medical Department, 
and endured with him "the slings and arrows 
of outrageous " invective at the hands of Con- 
way and others. The Miss Shippen to whom 
M. de Chastellux so frequently alluded was 
Dr. William Shippen's daughter Anne, who 
soon after married Mr. Livingston. 

At Dr. Shippen's home the French gentle- 
man was introduced to a scene that must have 
reminded him of a salon in his own country as 

phetic strain: "America is again free! God bless her; 
long may she remain so. As to the Act asserting the right 
of Parliament to tax the Colonies, we shall regard it as 
■waste paper. Let us only enjoy liberty but half a century 
longer, and we will defy the power of England to enslave 
us." 

133 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

much as a " conversazione " of Italy. " In the 
afternoon," he says, " we drank tea with Miss 
Shippen. This was the first time, since my 
arrival in America, that I had seen music 
introduced into society, and mixed with its 
amusements. Miss Rutledge played upon 
the harpsichord, and played very well. Miss 
Shippen sang with timidity, but with a pretty 
voice. Mr. Ottaw, Secretary to M. de Lu- 
zerne,* sent for his harp and accompanied 
Miss Shippen playing several pieces. Music 
naturally leads to dancing ; the Vicomte de 
Noailles, took down a violin, which was 
mounted with harp strings, and he made the 
young ladies dance, whilst their mothers and 
other grave personages chatted in another 
room." 

Mrs. Samuel Pov^^el, for \vhom Mrs. John 
Adams expressed so warm an admiration, 
made a deep impression upon the critical and 
always discriminating Frenchman, which he 
showed by frequently going to her home for a 
chat and staying until a late hour. " She is," 
he says, " well read and intelligent ; but what 
distinguished her most is her taste for conver- 
sation, and the truly European use that she 
knows how to make of her understanding and 
information." Of the happy married life of 
Mr. and Mrs. Powel, M. de. Chastellux writes : 
" I shall not say that they have lived together 

* Louis Guillaume Otto, afterwards charge d'affaires in 
the place of M. Barb6-Marbois. 

134 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 



in the closest union as man and wife, for 
twenty years, as that would not convey the 
idea of perfect equality in America, but as two 
friends, happily matched in point of under- 
standing, taste and information." 

Mrs. Powel was a sister of Mr. Thomas 
Willing, and after the death of his wife, this 
"motherly and friendly" lady, as Mrs. Adams 
described her, was a great help to her brother 
in the care of his large family of young 
daughters. The eldest of the group, Mrs. 
William Bingham, was a bride of seventeen 
when M. de Chastellux met her. Although 
those who knew Anne Willing in her girlhood 
described her as beautiful and charming, it is 
evident that her attractions, at this early time, 
\vere only a promise of the full flo^ver of 
beauty that was to grace the social life of the 
first and second administrations. 

Mr. Thomas Willing, the father of Mrs. Bing- 
ham, had inherited from his father, Charles 
Willing, some property, a large commercial 
business, and an excellent ability for affairs. 
During the war he and his partner, Robert 
Morris, were the financial bulwarks of the 
Revolution, in addition to which they held im- 
portant positions in the Provincial and Conti- 
nental Congresses. Both Mr. Willing and Mr. 
Morris had hesitated to sign the Declaration 
of Independence, because they hoped for an 
adjustment of the difficulties with the mother 
country ; but when the Revolution became an 
accomplished fact, no men were more ardent 
135 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

in their support of the cause of the Colonies 
than these two merchant princes of old Phila- 
delphia. When the Bank of North America 
was chartered, Mr. "Willing was elected its 
President, having associated with him in its 
management such substantial citizens as James 
Wilson, Samuel Osgood, Samuel Meredith, 
Cad\valader Morris, Samuel Inglis, Timothy 
Matlack, and Thomas Fitzsimons, an Irish 
merchant and patriot. The establishment of 
this bank, whose object was to raise money 
for the prosecution of the w^ar, \vas greatly 
facilitated by the election of Mr. Morris to be 
Superintendent of Finance, and by the arrival 
of a French frigate bringing four hundred and 
seventy thousand dollars in specie for the use 
of the provisional government. Thomas Wil- 
ling, John Ross, Gouverneur Morris, George 
Meade, David H. Conyngham, and other men 
of means had sufficient confidence in the ulti- 
mate success of the Colonies to subscribe 
largely to this bank, although, as Gouverneur 
Morris said, the government, w^hich was the 
largest stockholder, always put in its deposit 
w^ith one hand and borrowed it with the other. 
Mr. William Bingham, w^hen a very young 
man, and at the commencement of his suc- 
cessful career, generously subscribed five thou- 
sand pounds to the Bank of Pennsylvania for 
the purpose of supplying the army of the 
United States with provisions for two months, 
and this in one of the darkest hours of the 
struggle for liberty. Upon the formation of 
136 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

the Bank of North America, Mr. Bingham 
again subscribed largely, as did Mr. Willing, 
its President. Those, who afterwards spoke 
of Mr. Bingham and other stockholders of the 
bank as having made money out of the war, 
seemed to forget that at the time these men 
subscribed funds to a bank established by a 
provisional government, the result of the war 
was still involved in great uncertainty. If 
in the end they made much, the risk that 
they ran was proportionately great ; and we 
have good reason to believe to-day, that Mr. 
Thomas Willing, Mr. Bingham, Mr. Morris, 
Mr. Meredith, and their associates in the Bank 
of North America, were actuated by the most 
unselfish and patriotic motives, the primary 
use of the funds of this bank being for the 
recruiting service and to procure supplies for 
the army. 

Mr. Bingham, whose sudden rise to fortune 
and influence made him the subject of some 
scathing satires and pasquinades on the part 
of Peter Markoe and other poets and poetas- 
ters of his time, is now^ chiefly known as a 
man of large wealth, and as the husband of a 
beautiful v/oman who was a great social leader 
in Philadelphia life in the latter years of the 
century, which goes to prove that even in days 
of less rapid progress among women, it was 
possible for a man to be overshadowed by the 
brilliancy of his wife. William Bingham was 
a man who accomplished much good work in 
his day. A graduate of the College of Phila- 

137 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

delphia, he early received a diplomatic ap- 
pointment under the British government to 
Saint Pierre, on the island of Martinique, 
where he remained for several years. Mr. 
Bingham returned to Philadelphia during the 
Revolutionary War, after having for some 
time acted as Consul for the Continental Con- 
gress in Martinique, and under the new gov- 
ernment held the position of United States 
Senator. 

In 1784 Mr. and Mrs. Bingham visited 
London and Paris, in both of which cities the 
American beauty was greatly admired and 
feted. Mr. Bingham, being possessed of social 
tastes as ^vell as distinguished ability, made 
many friends, some of w^hom visited him in 
his own home in Philadelphia, or at his 
country-place, Lansdowne, on the Schuylkill. 

Among English friends, made by the Bing- 
hams while abroad, was the Marquess of 
Lansdowne, who had recently succeeded the 
Marquess of Rockingham as Prime Minister 
of England. Lord Wycombe, the eldest son 
of the Marquess of Lansdowne, visited Amer- 
ica about 1790. It is said that the Marquess 
of Lansdowne, who as Lord Shelburne had 
helped to make peace with the United States, 
desired to have his son know^ something of the 
nation to which Great Britain had been com- 
pelled to relinquish her claim. 

Mr. Samuel Breck gives an amusing ac- 
count of the reception of Lord W^ycombe at a 
Boston boarding-house. The landlady, Mrs. 

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SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Eaton, introduced the English gentleman as 
Lord Wickham, that probably being the pro- 
nunciation given by his valet; his fello^v- 
lodgers, not being accustomed to the society 
of lordships, concluded that " Lord " Avas his 
Christian name, and addressed the stranger as 
Mr. Wickham, except when a man from Salem 
entered into the conversation and spoke to 
him as " Mr. Wackhim." 

While in Philadelphia, Lord Wycombe was 
entertained by President Washington, and Mr. 
Samuel Breck speaks of meeting him at the 
Binghams', and at other houses. Mr. William 
Smith, a Member of Congress from South 
Carolina, gave a ball in honor of Lord Wy- 
combe. "At this ball," says Mr. Breck, "a 
great belle. Miss Sophia ChcAV, teased him so 
much to dance with her that he at length very 
reluctantly consented. The poor man, high 
born as he was, had never learned to dance ; 
yes, distinguished as was his birth, he did not 
know a single step. No performance, of 
course, could be more avs^kward, and he 
seemed in agony the whole time. But Miss 
Chew, privileged as all pretty women are, had 
determined to dance with a lord ; so she said, 
and so persisted until, bon gre\ mal gr/^ the 
stranger was obliged to submit. He w^as a 
tall, thin, gawky man of twenty three or 
twenty four years of age, mentally well en- 
dowed, though eccentric." 

For the Marquess of Lansdowne, Mrs. Bing- 
ham had a full-length portrait of President 

139 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Washington painted by Stuart.* In a graceful 
letter, in which the English nobleman ac- 
knowledges the receipt of the portrait, he says 
that he considers the gift " a very magnificent 
compliment," whose value is enhanced by the 
respect he feels for Mr. and Mrs. Bingham. 
The letter concludes with the following ex- 
pressions upon the character of the President : 
•' General Washington's conduct is above all 
praise. He has left a noble example to sover- 
eigns and nations present, and to come. I beg 
you will mention both me and my sons to him 
in the most respectful terms possible. If I 
was not too old, I would go to Virginia to do 
him homage." 
Gilbert Stuart painted more than one por- 



* There has been much dispute with regard to the owner- 
ship of this portrait, and some excellent authorities have 
come to the conclusion that the original portrait is in the 
Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, and that the one 
sent to the Marquess of Lansdowne is a replica made from 
it. There is no doubt, however, that General Washington 
sat to Stuart for a full-length portrait for Mrs. Bingham, 
as he wrote to the artist, under date of April ii, 1796 : " I 
am under promise to Mrs. Bingham to sit for you to-morrov7, 
at nine o'clock, and wishing to know if it be convenient to 
you that I should do so, and whether it shall be at your 
own house (as she talked of the State House) I send this 
note to ask information." 

Mr. John Nagle says that Stuart told him that this por- 
trait of General Washingtonwas bespoken bythe Marquess 
of Lansdowne, before he left England, but that Mr. Bing- 
ham asked for the privilege of presenting the picture to the 
Marquess. 

Z40 




All^. William I'iiifihain 
Bv Gilbert Stuart 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

trait of Mrs. Bingham. A charming head is 
owned by Dr. Henry Middleton Fisher, of Al- 
verthorpe, and a graceful picture of the young 
wife and mother, with her children around her, 
is to be found upon a huge unfinished canvas 
of Stuart's, which was evidently intended to 
adorn a large wall-space at Lansdowne. Mr. 
Bingham's horse has been brought to the door, 
and he stands ready to mount it, while his 
wife playfully holds her infant son upon the 
horse's back, and an older child, Anne Louisa, 
stands by watching the group. This picture, 
although sketchy and unfinished, is attractive 
in color and composition. For many years it 
was in Trenton, New Jersey, in the posses- 
sion of Miss Mary Clymer, a niece of Mrs. 
Bingham's, at w^hose death it passed into the 
possession of the Countess Jacques de Bryas, 
of Paris, a daughter of William Bingham Cly- 
mer, and consequently a grand-niece of Mrs. 
William Bingham. 

Mrs. John Adams first met Mrs. Bingham 
abroad, and was so much charmed w^ith her 
beauty and grace that she compared her thus 
favorably with the celebrated English beau- 
ties : "I have not seen a lady in England w^ho 
can bear a comparison with Mrs. Bingham, 
Mrs. Piatt, and a Miss Hamilton, who is a 
Philadelphia young lady. Amongst the most 
celebrated of their beauties stands the Du- 
chess of Devonshire, who is masculine in 
her appearance. Lady Salisbury is small and 
genteel, but her complexion is bad ; and Lady 

141 



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Talbot is not a Mrs. Bingham, who, taken 
altogether, is the finest woman I ever saw. 
The intelligence of her countenance, or rather, 
I ought to say, animation, the elegance of 
her form, and the affability of her manners, 
convert you into admiration ; and one has 
only to lament too much dissipation and fri- 
volity of amusement, which have weaned her 
from her native country, and given her a 
passion and thirst after all the luxuries of 
Europe." 

Despite Mrs. Bingham's enjoyment of for- 
eign life and fashions, she and her husband 
returned to America after a residence abroad 
of less than two years. Mr. William Hamil- 
ton, of Woodlands, in writing from London 
to Dr. Thomas Parke, in March, 1786, says : 
*' Mr. Bingham & his family are to be pas- 
sengers with Willet. He takes two carriages 
& 8 servants, &c, & imagine means to make 
a great Show^. What a terrible thing would 
it be if the Lady was to get into the Dey's 
Seraglio." 

No such unhappy fate as that suggested by 
Mr. Hamilton having overtaken " the Lady," 
Mr. and Mrs. Bingham returned in safety to 
Philadelphia, where they soon after built their 
handsome house on the west side of Third 
Street above Spruce. The grounds belonging 
to Mr. Bingham's property, v^hich had been 
used during the British occupation as a pa- 
rade ground, extended to Fourth Street. The 
house was set back about forty feet from the 

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line of the street, and was approached by a 
circular carriage-way. The entrance to the 
house was not raised, but brought the visitor 
by a single step to the wide hall, paved w^ith 
tessellated marble, from which a broad stair- 
way of white mable, leading to the second 
floor, gave the entrance an elegant and spa- 
cious appearance. Mr. ^Vatson says that the 
grounds, which were carefully laid out and 
contained beautiful and rare trees, were un- 
fortunately enclosed within a high board fence 
and a close line of Lombardy poplars, which 
prevented passers by from enjoying the lovely 
garden. 

While Mr. Bingham's house, which was 
modelled after the residence of the Duke of 
Manchester, Manchester Square, London, was 
in course of erection, Mrs. Warder wrote in 
her diary that she stopped on her way home 
from George Emlen's, on Fourth Street, to 
look at the Binghams' new^ house, which, she 
says, " causes much talk here, being upon a 
new plan, but very ungenteel, I think, as it 
much resembles some of our heavy public 
buildings — four windows back and front, with 
figures of stucco work." 

Although Mr. Bingham's new mansion did 
not meet with the approval of the English 
Quakeress, Mrs. Warder, it was greatly ad- 
mired by Philadelphians and by many visitors, 
and was sufficiently elegant in its appoint- 
ments to draw^ forth some shafts of sarcasm 
from Peter Markoe and other persons of 
143 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

socialistic tendencies,* In his verses upon 
"The Times," which were evidently "out of 
joint" for him, Mr. Markoe wrote: 

" Rapax, the muse has slightly touched thy crimes, 
And dares to wake thee from thy golden dream, 
In peculation's various arts supreme — 
Tho' to thy ' mansion ' wits and fops repair. 
To game, to feast, to flatter, and to stare. 
But say, from what bright deeds dost thou derive 
That wealth which bids thee rival British Clive ? 
Wrung from the hardy sons of toil and wrar. 
By arts, which petty scoundrels would abhor." 

In her spacious and beautiful home on Third 
Street above Spruce, Mrs. Bingham was sur- 
rounded by her family. The grounds of her 
father's house, on the same street, joined her 
garden, while her aunts, Mrs. Byrd and Mrs. 
Powel, both had elegant establishments on 
Third Street.f The Reverend Dr. Blackwell, 
who had married Mr. Bingham's sister, lived 
on Pine Street above Third, and at 187 South 
Third Street Mrs. Bingham's sister, Elizabeth, 
resided after her marriage with Major William 
Jackson. 

* This house, the scene of so many brilliant entertain- 
ments, was afterwards used as a hotel, — a well-appointed 
and most fashionable resort, called the " Mansion House," 
— which was kept by William Renshaw, and afterwards by 
Joseph Head. 

t Mr. Thomas Willing's house, at the southwest corner 
of Third and Willing's Alley, which was built by John 
Palmer in 1745, was afterwards used for the offices of the 
Pennsylvania Railroad Company. 

144 




Mrs. William Byrd 
By Cosmo Alexander 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Mrs. "William Byrd was Mr. Charles Wil- 
ling's daughter Mary. She married the third 
Colonel Byrd, of Westover. Although their 
home was at the family seat in Virginia, Mr. 
and Mrs. Byrd spent much time in Philadel- 
phia, where Mr. ^Villing had built them a 
house. Edward Burd,* who, in his numerous 
letters to friends and relatives, gives some inti- 
mate and graphic pictures of the gayer side 
of Philadelphia life, w^rote of this lady some 
years after her marriage : " I had the Happi- 
ness of being introduced last Sunday to my 
Cousin Mrs. Byrd from Virginia, and of tasting 
her sweet Lips — a Happiness seldom enjoyed 
here by the People of Fashion, which is a 
Tyrant that I am afraid will in time be the 
Destruction of all social Pleasures. 

Mr. Wansey speaks in his journal of dining 
at the Binghams', and finding the house and 
garden in the best English style, the drawing- 
room chairs from Seddons, in London, the 
carpet one of Moore's most expensive pat- 
terns, and the paper in French taste, after the 
style of the Vatican at Rome. This rather 
curious mingling of styles Mr. Wansey thought 
very handsome and effective. The guests at 

*This is Edward Burd, whose mother was Sarah Ship- 
pen. He married his cousin, Elizabeth Shippen, a sister 
of Mrs, Benedict Arnold. Mr. Burd w^as a stanch Whig, 
commanded a company of volunteers, and was taken pris- 
oner at the Battle of Long Island. His letters have recently 
been privately printed by Lewis Burd Walker, of Potts- 
ville, Pennsylvania. 

10 145 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

this dinner were " Mr. Willing, president of the 
bank of the United States, the father of Mrs. 
Bingham ; Mons. Cailot, the exiled Governor 
of Guadaloupe ; and the famous Viscount de 
Noailles, who distinguished himself so much 
in the first National Constituent Assembly, on 
August 4, 1789, by his propositions, and his 
speech, on that occasion, for the abolition of 
feudal rights. He is now engaged in forming 
a settlement with other unfortunate Country- 
men, about sixty-five miles north of North- 
umberland Town. It is called ' Asylum,' and 
stands on the eastern branch of the Susque- 
lianah." 

President Washington was a frequent visitor 
at the Binghams', his official and unofficial 
relations with Mr. Bingham being of the most 
friendly nature, while Mrs. Bingham he had 
known from her girlhood. 

It is evident that this young w^oman, who 
drew around her the best and brightest men 
of her day, possessed a charm beyond and 
above her great beauty. Washington, who 
was an accurate reader of character, admired 
and liked Mrs. Bingham, and John Jay, who 
had shown so much wisdom in his own matri- 
monial choice, wrote to Mr. Bingham at the 
time of his marriage, " As I am always pleased 
to find those happy whom I think deserve to 
be so, it gave me very sensible satisfaction to 
hear that you had both made so judicious a 
choice, notwithstanding the veil which that 
sweet fascinating passion often draws over our 
146 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

eyes and understanding." Mr. Jefferson was 
a warm friend and admirer of the Philadelphia 
beauty, w^hom he first met in Paris, and \vith 
whom he afterwards corresponded. In -writing 
to Mrs. Bingham after her return to America, 
he thus half playfully, half seriously alluded 
to a discussion that they had had upon the 
relative attractions of life at home and abroad : 
*' I know, madam, that the twelve-month is 
not yet expired ; but it will be, nearly, before 
this will have the honor of being put into your 
hands. You are then engaged to tell me, truly 
and honestly, whether you do not find the 
tranquil pleasures of America preferable to the 
empty bustle of Paris. For to what does that 
bustle tend ? At eleven o'clock it is day, chez 
niadame. The curtains are drawn. Propped on 
bolsters and pillows, and her head scratched 
into a little order, the bulletins of the sick are 
read, and the billets of the well. She -writes to 
some of her acquaintances and receives the 
visits of others. If the morning is not very 
thronged, she is able to get out and hobble 
round the cage of the Palais Royal ; but she 
must hobble quickly, for the coiffeur's turn is 
come; and a tremendous turn it is! Happy, 
if he does not make her arrive when dinner is 
half over ! The torpitude of digestion a little 
passed, she flutters half an hour through the 
streets, by way of paying visits, and then to 
the spectacles. These finished, another half 
hour is devoted to dodging in and out of the 
doors of her very sincere friends, and away to 

147 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

supper. After supper, cards ; and after cards, 
bed; to rise at noon the next day, and to tread, 
like a mill-horse, the same trodden circle over 
again. ... If death or bankruptcy happen to 
trip us out of the circle, it is matter for the 
buzz of the evening, and is completely for- 
gotten by the next morning. In America, on 
the other hand, the society of your husband, 
the fond cares for the children, the arrange- 
ments of the house, the improvements of the 
grounds, fill every moment with a healthy 
and an useful activity. . . . The intervals of 
leisure are filled by the society of real friends, 
whose affections are not thinned to cobweb by 
being spread over a thousand objects. This is 
the picture, in the light it is presented to my 
mind; now let me have it in yours." 

Unfortunately, Mrs. Bingham's reply to this 
charming letter is not available. We may 
believe, however, that she ably defended her 
side of the question. 

One contemporary speaks of Mrs. Bingham's 
beauty, another of the grace of her figure and 
the elegance of her bearing ; but the one prob- 
ably who best understood her charm, says : 
" Her manners were a gift. With advantages, 
personal, social, and external, such as hardly 
ever fail to excite envy from her sex, such was 
her easy and happy turn of feeling, and such 
the fortunate cast of her natural manners, 
that she seemed never to excite the sting of 
unkindness, nor so much as aw^aken its slum- 
ber or repose. Her entertainments were dis- 
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SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

tinguished not more for their superior style 
and frequency than for the happy and discreet 
selection of her guests." 

When Mr. Jefferson, Chief-Justice Jay and 
his beautiful wife, Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Wol- 
cott, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Hopkinson, and Mr. 
Madison and his "Dolly," who possessed so 
much social charm, met in the drawing-room 
of Mrs. Bingham, and there found the Due de 
Liancourt, the Vicomte de Noailles, the great 
ecclesiastical diplomat Talleyrand, and the 
traveller Volney, who, if " peevish and sour 
tempered," possessed a vast fund of informa- 
tion, w^e may believe that there was no lack of 
brilliant conversation. Whether the discussion 
turned upon foreign life and fashions, or upon 
politics at home, or the stirring events then 
transpiring in the Old World, it was worthy 
of any salon of Paris or London. Here also 
came young Mr. Breck, who had been edu- 
cated abroad, and being upon intimate terms 
with the foreign noblemen, was ever ready 
to assist his hostess in drawing together the 
various elements in her drawing-room. Nor 
was this a difficult task when Mr. Jeffer- 
son and Mr. Hamilton were present, as they 
both possessed an unlimited capacity for being 
interested in people and matters outside of 
their own especial lines, while Judge Peters 
was most helpful in his ability to stem the 
tide of a too serious discussion by one of his 
" twisted quirks and happy hits." Another 
brilliant guest was Mrs. John Adams, fresh 
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SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

from foreign fields of observation, with a 
tongue as ready as her pen, clear, discrimi- 
nating, and penetrating to the heart of things, 
yet always too honest and fair-minded to be 
ill-natured. It was Mrs. Adams who said of 
Mrs. Bingham that she had come home from 
Europe to give the laws to Philadelphia v/omen 
in fashion and elegance, and these laws they 
seem to have followed with no thought of 
rebellion. 

It is said that Queen Marie Antoinette, in 
the days of her youth and gayety, one day 
picked up an ostrich plume and carelessly 
stuck it in her hair. The young Dauphiness 
saw^ that the feather was becoming, the court 
ladies told her that she looked beautiful in a 
high coifftire, — as, indeed, she did in everything 
that she put on her pretty young head, — and 
then more feathers were added, and flowers, 
and pearls, and what not else, until a head- 
gear -was reared that threatened, like that other 
structure of Holy "Writ, "to reach even unto 
heaven." As the gay court of Paris followed 
the fashions of the royal beauty, so did the 
worldly minded fair of Philadelphia adopt those 
of Mrs. Bingham. 

Flattered, admired, and sought after, it is 
not strange that this lady should at times 
have been arbitrary and even captious. When 
Thomas "Wignell opened the New Theatre, as 
it was long called, Mrs. Bingham offered to 
take one of the private boxes " at any price to 
be fixed by the manager," and to decorate and 
ISO 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

furnish the box herself, provided she might 
keep the key, and no person be allowed to enter 
the box v\7ithout her consent. The proposi- 
tion ^vas certainly a complex one to a manager 
entering upon v/hat then seemed a large finan- 
cial venture. Mr. Wignell was sorely tempted. 
He recognized all the advantages to his theatre, 
that would result from having one of his boxes 
used by so great a social favorite and leader 
of fashion as Mrs. Bingham ; but, on the other 
hand, he clearly realized, says Thomas Wood, 
that he must "act on the principles of his 
country's government, and on the recognition 
of feelings deeply pervading the structure of 
its society ; to hold all men ' free ' to come into 
his house and ' equal ' while they continued 
to be and behave themselves in it." In con- 
sideration of this democratic vie^v of the situ- 
ation, Mr. Wignell politely, and with many 
expressions of gratitude for her consideration, 
declined Mrs. Bingham's offer, and thus for- 
feited the patronage of the most influential 
woman in Philadelphia. Mrs. Bingham, who 
was not used to denials, seldom — some per- 
sons say never — entered the New Theatre on 
Chestnut Street. It is interesting to learn 
that the success of this theatre justified its 
manager's policy, and that the haughty beauty 
in the end suffered more than the manager, as 
many interesting representations were given 
upon its stage. Mrs. Oldmixen, Mrs. Whit- 
lock, Mrs. Morris, and Mrs. Marshall were 
then acting for Mr. Wignell. Mrs. Whitlock 
151 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

belonged to the Siddons family, so distin- 
guished for its histrionic ability, which was 
later to be represented in this city by Frances 
Anne Kemble. 

All strangers of distinction naturally found 
their way to the Binghams' hospitable home. 
Mr. Thomas Twining describes a large dinner 
party at Mrs. Bingham's, where he met the 
Vicomte de Noailles, Comte de Tilly, M. Vol- 
ney, the two Messrs. Baring, and several 
members of the Senate and House of Repre- 
sentatives. 

Strange as it may appear, three of the guests 
at this dinner married Mr. Bingham's tw^o 
daughters. Alexander Baring, the elder of the 
two brothers Avho were in America, and the 
second son of Sir Francis Baring, married 
Anne Louisa Bingham in 1798, she being 
at the time of her marriage in her sixteenth 
year.* Mr. Bingham's second daughter, Maria 
Matilda, married the gentleman whom Mr. 
Twining calls " Count Tilley," — James Alex- 



*The Honorable Alexander Baring was in 1835 raised to 
the peerage as Baron Ashburton of Ashburton, County 
Devon. His son, William Bingham Baring, married Har- 
riet Mary, daughter of Lord Sandwich. Hence, the Lord 
Ashburton so often spoken of in Mrs. Carlyle's letters was 
the grandson of the Philadelphia beauty of the last cen- 
tury, and his wife, the English pre'cieuse who ■was a w^arm 
friend of John Stuart Mill, Charles Buller, Thomas Car- 
lyle, and other men of letters, was the Lady Ashburton 
who raised such a storm of unreasonable jealousy in the 
sensitive, unsatisfied soul of Jane Welsh Carlyle. 

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SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

ander, Comte de Tilly. This marriage was an 
unhappy one, and the Countess de Tilly after- 
wards became the wife of Henry Baring, who 
was also her father's guest at the dinner de- 
scribed by Mr. T^vining. 

A number of foreign marriages were made 
at this time. Among interesting figures in the 
diplomatic circle were Francois Barbe-Mar- 
bois, who came to the United States with M. 
de la Luzerne as his secretary, the Senor 
Martinez de Yrujo, Spanish Minister to the 
United States, and David Montague Erskine, 
afterwards Lord Erskine, w^ho, while he was 
Secretary to the British Legation, married 
Frances Cadwalader. 

M. Barbe-Marbois, who was later Intendant 
of Saint Domingo and attained a high rank in 
diplomatic circles, married Elizabeth Moore, 
of Philadelphia, a daughter of Colonel Moore, 
and a great-granddaughter of the first Thomas 
Lloyd. M. Marbois played an important part 
in the negotiations for the sale of Louisiana to 
the United States. 

The Senor Martinez de Yrujo, who was 
afterwards created Marquis de Casa Yrujo, is 
described as appearing at Congress Hall, ar- 
rayed in great magnificence, to w^itness the 
inauguration of President John Adams. " He 
was," says a contemporary writer, " of middle 
size, of round person, florid complexion, and 
hair powdered like a snow ball ; dark striped 
silk coat, lined with satin ; white waistcoat, 
black silk breeches, white silk stockings, shoes 
IS3 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

and buckles. He had by his side an elegant- 
hilted small-sword, and his chapeau, tipped 
with white feathers, under his arm." It is not 
strange that Miss Sally McKean should have 
lost her heart to this resplendent cavalier, 
whom she met at a dinner soon after his ar- 
rival in Philadelphia. Among the guests at 
this dinner w^ere Sir Robert Listen, the British 
Minister, and Lady Liston, Volney the trav- 
eller, Gilbert Stuart, and Mrs. Henry Clymer 
and her sister, Mrs. William Bingham. A con- 
temporary writer, in describing the meeting of 
Miss McKean and her future husband, says : 
*' Among the first to arrive was Chief Justice 
McKean, accompanied by his lovely daughter, 
Miss Sally McKean. Miss McKean had many 
admirers, but her heart was still her own. 
She wore a blue satin dress trimmed with 
white crape and flowers, and petticoat of white 
crape richly embroidered, and across the front 
a festoon of rose color caught up with flowers. 
. . . The next to arrive was Senor Don Carlos 
Martinez de Yrujo, a stranger to almost all the 
guests. He spoke w^ith ease, but with a for- 
eign accent, and w^as soon lost in amazement 
at the grace and beauty of Miss McKean. . . . 
The acquaintance thus commenced, resulted 
in the marriage of Miss McKean to Senor 
Martinez de Yrujo at Philadelphia, April lo, 
1798." 

Mrs. Bingham was in the full maturity of 
her beauty at this time, which was the year 
of her daughter's marriage to the Honorable 

154 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Alexander Baring. The mother of thirty-four 
and the bride of sixteen were often mistaken for 
sisters. Elizabeth Willing, Mrs. Bingham's 
younger sister, had been married only a few 
years earlier to Major William Jackson, who 
was aide-de-camp and private secretary to Presi- 
dent Washington. The wedding of Elizabeth 
Willing, in her father's house at the southv/est 
corner of Third Street and Willing's Alley, 
was one of the brilliant social functions of the 
Washington administration. Mrs. Bingham 
acted the part of a mother to her younger 
sister, and assisted her father in receiving 
such honored v^edding guests as the President 
and Lady Washington, Mr. and Mrs. Robert 
Morris, Alexander Hamilton, General Knox, 
General Lincoln, a warm personal friend of 
the groom, and the Vicomte de Noailles. 

The presence of Major and Mrs. Jackson 
naturally added much to the attractiveness of 
Mrs. Bingham's entertainments, as did that of 
her sisters, Mrs. Henry Clymer and Dorothy 
and Abigail Willing. Abigail, the youngest 
of Mr. W^illing's daughters, w^as greatly ad- 
mired by Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans, and 
afterwards King of the French. This young 
nobleman w^as a frequent guest at the Wil- 
lings' and Binghams', where he saw Miss 
Willing surrounded by all the charm of social 
and domestic life. Mrs. John Redman Coxe, 
in one of her letters to her sister and brother 
in South Carolina, thus retails the on dit of the 
day with regard to this affair : " It is reported 
155 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

that Abby Willing is to be married to the Duke 
of Orleans who you know arrived some time 
before you left us — I do not know whether it 

is correct, but it is the general report " In 

another letter Mrs. Coxe says : " Miss Wil- 
ling's match is broken off — the reason is never 
to be known. It \vas thought a very extraor- 
dinary thing at the beginning & this has not 

lessened the surprise of the natives " The 

" reason," which Mrs. Coxe and the rest of 
the gay world did not know, may be found in 
the story afterwards told, which is worth re- 
peating, as it reveals the rare common sense 
and self-respect of Mr. W^illing. It is said 
that \vhen the Duke of Orleans made his formal 
demande for the hand of his daughter, Mr. Wil- 
ling replied, with true republicanism, yet with 
the tact and grace of a courtier : " Should you 
ever be restored to your hereditary position 
you will be too great a match for her ; if not 
she is too great a match for you." 

Instead of the questionable future of mar- 
rying a King of France, there was reserved for 
Abigail W^illing the more serene, if less event- 
ful, career of becoming the wife of a Philadel- 
phia law^yer. Miss W^illing, a few years later, 
married Richard Peters, a son of Judge Peters. 

Among charming maids and matrons of the 
Republican capital were Nelly Custis ; her 
three girl friends, Elizabeth Bordley, Martha 
Coffin, and Maria Jefferson, w^ho married her 
cousin, Mr. Eppes ; Mrs. John Travis ; Mrs. 
William Lewis, an Irish beauty ; Mrs. Wil- 

156 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

liam Ra'wle, a lovely Quakeress, and Mrs. 
John Cox, who, with her half dozen fair 
daughters, left her quiet home in New Jersey 
to enjoy the gayeties of city life. In one of 
Miss Sarah Cox's letters, undated, but evi- 
dently written in February, 1797, as she refers 
to the last birthnight ball given to President 
Washington in Philadelphia, she says : *' The 
common topic of conversation here is the 
Birth night, which is next Wednesday. It is 
to be the most superb entertainment I hear 
that ever has been here; It is to be in the 
same place it was last year — I suppose it will 
be a genteel mob — for I believe everybody is 
going, — They all say it is to be the last time 
we shall ever have it in our power to celebrate 
the Birthday of our good President, that they 
will go at all events — Half Trenton is down 
already & 1 hear that a// Princeton will be here 
— Mi's D^ Smith has come to go although she 
is quite lame with the rheumatism, but you 
know what a good Federalist she is. 

" I talk of taking two pair of shoes with me 
for I danced one pair nearly out at the last 
Assembly and I am sure if I could do that 
when it had nothing to do with the President, 
TA^hat shall I do when I have his presence to 
inspire me." 

An interesting element in the social life 
of the time was introduced by the French 
emigrdes who were in America in the latter 
years of the century. Many French officers 
and noblemen who had served under General 

157 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Washington returned to America, during and 
after the French Revolution, to avail them- 
selves of the free institutions of the Republic 
to which they had tendered their services. 

Mr. Samuel Breck, whose father entertained 
with great hospitality in his home on High 
Street, says, " I knew personally Talleyrand, 
Beaumais, Vicomte de Noailles, the Due de 
Liancourt, Volney, and subsequently Louis 
Philippe, the present King of the French, and 
his two brothers, the Dues de Montpensier 
and Beaujolais." The Duke of Orleans, or M. 
d'Orleans, as he was called, was entertained 
in Philadelphia, says Mr. Breck, by Mr. David 
H. Conyngham, who was then living on Front 
Street. The Duke of Orleans was afterwards 
joined by his brothers, the Dukes of Mont- 
pensier and Beaujolais. These three Princes 
made a tour through the United States, travel- 
ling on horseback to Pittsburgh, equipped like 
Western traders, having a blanket over their 
saddles and their saddle-bags under them. 
The brothers afterwards visited Washington 
at Mount Vernon. Upon their return to 
Philadelphia, the Duke of Orleans hired very 
humble lodgings in Prune Street, over a bar- 
ber-shop, says a writer of the time. The 
apartment of this future monarch was so in- 
adequately furnished that, upon the occasion 
of a small dinner-party given by him, he v^as 
obliged to seat half of his guests on the bed. 

Mr. Breck speaks of a more than casual 
acquaintance with the exiled Bishop of Au- 
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tun, and once, when Alexander Hamilton was 
pleading one of his great cases, Talleyrand sat 
in the court-room with him, listening to the 
masterly logic and eloquence of the brilliant 
advocate. 

The Vicomte de Noailles he describes as 
tall, graceful, handsome, possessed of a perfect 
figure, the first amateur dancer of the age, and 
with great charm of manner. Having saved 
a fragment of his fortune from the general 
wreck of the French Revolution, the young 
nobleman entered into business in Philadel- 
phia, and " every day at the coffee house, or 
exchange, where the merchants met, the ex- 
nobleman was the busiest of the busy, holding 
his bank-book in one hand and a broker or a 
merchant by the button with the other, while 
he drove his bargains as earnestly as any 
regular-bred son of a counting-house." 

In addition to the Frenchmen who came here 
during the Revolution, there also immigrated 
to America, from Saint Domingo, a large num- 
ber of its leading citizens, who with their fami- 
lies w^ere driven hither by the uprising in the 
island which followed so close upon that in 
France. Again, in the early years of the next 
century, while Dessalines was exercising his 
brutal will over the unfortunate island, a num- 
ber of French exiles came to Philadelphia. 
In one or other of these immigrations, came the 
Sigoignes, Tesseires, Monges, de la Roches, 
Guillous, Clapiers, and many other French 
families of education and refinement. Some 

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of these men and women thoroughly identified 
themselves with the interests of the country 
to which they had come, and have been num- 
bered among its best citizens. 

In 1806 General John Victor Moreau, one of 
the Marshals of the Empire, came to Phila- 
delphia with his wife. Miss Mary Binney and 
Mrs. John Cox both speak with enthusiasm of 
the elegance and accomplishments of Madame 
Moreau. Miss Binney, in a letter written to 
Mrs. Simon Jackson, in Newtown, Massachu- 
setts, says : " Madame Moreau, wife of the 
General, is at present the magnet of all at- 
traction. Her accomplishments are indeed 
wonderful, and it seems to me her husband 
takes his consequence from her now, however 
he reflected honor in France. Tout le monde 
thinks and talks of Madame Moreau, parties 
of splendor and balls are consequently given 
for her. Indeed she plays on the piano, harp, 
guitar, and tambourine infinitely better than 
any one in our own country, and is the most 
perfectly graceful little fairy on the floor my 
eyes ever beheld. I am just getting steady 
from a ball in the neighborhood where she 
danced the waltz to the admiration of about 
two hundred people. As I suppose my cousin 
will be interested (in the nursery) with the 
ball dresses of Philadelphia, I must first tell 
you that Madame Moreau changes her dress 
every night, as most ladies do ; one night she 
will wear a wreath of diamonds as large as 
large peas through her hair, with necklace ear- 

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rings, hair comb etc, of the same, and another 
night her ornaments are all beautiful pearls. 
Our belles content themselves ^vith ostrich 
feathers which are universally worn, and gold 
and silver trimmings of one kind and another. 
Now done to this frippery, and let me turn 
where my heart most certainly is, to your 
sweet retirement and my uncle's loved Spring 
Hill." 

In one of Mrs. John Cox's letters, in which 
she gives her daughter, Mrs. James Chestnut, 
of Camden, South Carolina, so much of the 
gossip, gay and grave, of the Philadelphia 
^vorld, she speaks of the gayety of the w^inter 
of 1806. There being no Assembly that season, 
she says that there have been many private 
balls, given by Mrs. Nicklin, Mrs. Lewis, Mrs. 
John Bradford Wallace, and by her daughter, 
Mrs. John Redman Coxe, in addition to which 
a number of musical parties were given in 
Madame Moreau's honor. " Her accomplish- 
ments," says Mrs. Cox, " are the constant 
theme. Her performance on the Harp, Piano, 
Tamborine &c are greater than has ever been 
exhibited here and her dancing exceeds all 
praise." With great pride in her daughter 
Elizabeth's simple, domestic tastes, the result 
of her country bringing up, the good mother 
adds : "I must tell you of Betsy's speech last 
week — I went there in the evening, when she 
was dressed & waiting for the carriage to take 
her to M''^ Nicklin's Ball ' Oh ! how I wish 
I lived in the country [she exclaimed] where I 
II 161 



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need not have this trouble of dressing & being 
in a crowd — I could be content never to Dance 
but on the green with my children.' " * 

Most of the foreign visitors, and many of 
the cabinet officers and American statesmen 
\vho came to Philadelphia during the first 
and second administrations, found their way 
to another drawing-room, very different from 
that of Mrs. Bingham, but equally charming 
and distinguished in its way. Mrs. George 
Logan, of Stenton, was far too consistent a 
Friend to have called the circle of intellectual 
men and women which she gathered around 
her by the worldly French title of salon ; but 
such it was to all intents and purposes. Here, 
in her country-place, Stenton, situated on the 
Germantown Road above Nicetown, in a spa- 
cious house built by the first James Logan, 
the elegant and cultivated Quaker lady drew 
around her an interesting and appreciative 
little coterie. 

President Washington visited the Logans at 
Stenton, and Mrs. Logan has left a pleasant 
picture of the great soldier and statesman. 
Dr. George Logan had been making some ex- 
periments upon his farm which interested 
Washington, who, like Jefferson, was always 
a farmer, no matter what other subjects might 
claim his attention. " He came," says Mrs. 



* This V7as Elizabeth Cox, who married the distinguished 
la^vyer, Horace Binney. The Mrs. Nicklin 'who gave the 
ball was probably Mrs. Philip Nicklin,— Juliana Chew. 
z62 



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Logan, " with his friend Daniel Jennifer, Esq, 
of Maryland, who had often before been with 
us, and passed a day at Stenton in the most 
social and friendly manner imaginable, de- 
lighted with the fine grass-land and beautiful 
experiments with gypsum, some of which 
plainly showed initials and words traced with 
it upon the sod of a far richer hue and thick- 
ness than the surrounding grass, and other 
subjects of rural economy which Dr. Logan 
then had to show. His praise conferred dis- 
tinction. Nor did he make me less happy by 
his pleasing attention to myself and his kind 
notice of my children, whom he caressed in 
the most endearing manner, placing my little 
boy on his knee, and taking my infant in his 
arms with commendations that made their 
way immediately to a mother's heart." 

In the home of her girlhood Mrs. Logan, 
then Deborah Norris, had been accustomed to 
meeting many interesting and distinguished 
persons, who were drawn to the fireside of the 
Quaker widow, says Mrs. Wister, " by the 
lively common sense of her talk." Deborah 
Norris lost her father when she was under 
five years of age, and to her mother, Mary 
Parker Norris, she owed many of her dis- 
tinguishing traits. An incident, which shows 
how early Deborah Norris developed the social 
tact and ability that made her home at Stenton 
so charming a resort, was related by one of 
the French travellers in America during the 
Revolution. One day the Chevalier de Ter- 
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nant, a charming and accomplished young 
Frenchman who served under Baron Steuben 
during the Revolution, called to pay his re- 
spects to Mrs. Norris and her fair daughter. 
The drawing-room was full of old friends and 
persons of their o^vn religious persuasion, be- 
tween whom and the accomplished foreigner 
there seemed little in common. " Deborah 
looked anxiously round, and presently singled 
out Humphrey Marshall, a distinguished natu- 
ralist, but a man of the plainest address, and 
presented them to each other, adroitly turn- 
ing the conversation upon botany, which she 
knew to be a favorite science of De Ternan's, 
and then left them, to look after other guests. 
After a long talk, De Ternan came up to her 
with the inquiry, 'Miss Norris, have you many 
such men as this Mr. Marshall among you?'"* 
Many of the statesmen and literary men 
who resorted to Stenton were drawn thither 
by their interest in Dr. George Logan, who 
was a member of the State Legislature, after- 
wards United States Senator from Pennsyl- 
vania, — a man of cultivation, a politician of 
very pronounced view^s, agreeing on certain 
salient points with Mr. Jefferson, and a lover 

• Although written Ternan by the narrator, this was 
evidently the Chevalier Ternant, who was associated with 
Major Fleury in the inspection of the troops at Valley 
Forge under Baron Steuben. Washington Irving says' 
that M. Ternant w^as chosen, not only for his merit and 
abilities, but because he also possessed the important 
qualification of speaking English as well as French. 

164 



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of peace, as became his religious profession. 
If Dr. Logan's visitors lingered long over a 
cup of tea in Mrs. Logan's drawing-room, it 
was because her conversation was of more 
than ordinary interest, and that she entered 
with her husband and his friends into the dis- 
cussions of the hour appears from her own 
modest record. Mr. Jefferson was an intimate 
friend of the Logans, and was frequently at 
Stenton during his residence in Philadelphia. 
Years after Mrs. Logan wrote : " I have not 
forgotten the force and expansion of Jefferson's 
arguments, delivered in a beautiful simplicity 
of language, and a politeness of manner that 
disarmed offence, yet with a strength that 
defied refutation when Reason was admitted 
to sit as judge." In general, this shrewd and 
observing woman thought that Mr. Jefferson 
did not allow his political prejudice or party 
spirit to w^arp his judgment; yet in one case 
she considered that he failed in entire fairness, 
as she added : " I saw that he wanted sincerity 
to^vards General Washington, whom I had 
always revered and could not bear to hear 
mentioned in terms that implied the smallest 
diminution of his character or qualities." 

Many heated discussions upon the princi- 
ples of the French Revolution and America's 
attitude towards France took place in Mrs. 
Logan's drawing-room or under the beautiful 
trees of Stenton. Upon one of these occa- 
sions, w^hen hot-headed, radical Genet was 
present, he rose from his chair, says Mrs. 
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Logan, " and baffled in argument, but retaining 
his good humor and gentlemanly demeanor, 
he exclaimed, in his (then) imperfect English, 
•"Well, gentlemen, if my country were once 
happily settled in peace and the enjoyment of 
her rights, as yours is now, I would sit under 
my own vine and trees as you do, but I would 
disclaim political disquisitions altogether ; I 
would never suffer a gazette to enter my 
house.' " * 

Among Mrs. Logan's earlier guests was the 
great Franklin, for whom she and Dr. Logan 
had a warm friendship, and the Polish exile 
Kosciusko, who stayed at Stenton for some 
w^eeks, and found, says the Quaker lady, 
"among these rural scenes, some of that balm 
for the incurable hurt of his noble heart which 
the companionship of Nature only could ad- 
minister." 

To Stenton there came, in earlier and later 
times, Mr. John Vaughan, the most benevo- 
lent and genial of men ; Major Pierce Butler, 
whose country-place was quite near on the 
York Road; the French patriot, Dupont de 
Nemours ; the brilliant and eccentric John 
Randolph of Roanoke ; Peter S. Duponceau, 
a French jurist, who had been aide-de-camp to 
Baron Steuben during the war, and the w^itty 
Abb^ Correa de Serra, Portuguese Minister to 
the United States, with whom his gentle and 

* " Deborah Logan, the Quaker Lady," by Mrs. Owen J. 
Wister. 

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learned hostess could converse upon his favor- 
ite subject, the flora of the country, or show 
him a choice treasure, the "dormant jerboa" 
(jumping mouse), which had been turned up 
by the plough, and which she was tenderly 
cherishing in a closet. Here doubtless came 
the great physician, after whom the English 
naturalist * named the luxuriant vine, with its 
graceful clusters of purple flow^ers, which is 
now known all over the world as the "Wistaria. 
Dr. Caspar Wistar's own country-seat was 
not far from Stenton, on the other side of 
Germantown, on School-House Lane. The 
old house still stands, embowered in rare and 
beautiful trees, w^ith a garden old-fashioned 
enough to bring despair to the hearts of all 
modern projectors of old-time gardens. 

Other visitors Mrs. Logan had during Dr. 
Logan's absence in France in the summer of 
1798, who came to Stenton from Philadelphia, 
which was again a plague-stricken city. Many 
of these guests were the members of her own 
family, Logans and Norrises, and often to the 
number of twenty or more at one time. For 
this large family the Quaker lady, who was 

* Thomas Nuttall, who named the Wistaria after Dr. 
Caspar Wistar, -was often at the Germantown home of 
Mr. Charles J. Wister, who was also a distinguished 
botanist. Mr. Nuttall found many of his correspondents 
upon scientific subjects in the Philosophical Society of 
Philadelphia, as Mr. William Hamilton, William Bartram, 
and the Reverend Louis de Schweinitz, of Bethlehem, 
Pennsylvania, another great botanist. 
167 



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an admirable housekeeper despite her love of 
literature and her frequent flights into poetry, 
provided with ready hospitality, declaring that 
this sudden influx of guests was far better 
than for her to be left in solitude. 

While the yellow-fever -was raging in Phila- 
delphia, from which all communication was 
cut off, we may believe that Mrs. Logan's 
fortunate visitors held many discussions with 
regard to what was naturally a vital question 
of the hour, — w^hether Dr. Benjamin Rush's 
treatment of the epidemic, which was to 
bleed, bleed, and again to bleed, was as good 
as Dr. Caspar Wistar's milder methods of 
dealing with the malady. 

Germantown, as in the summer of 1793, 
proved a safe and convenient refuge for Phila- 
delphians in 1797, '98, and '99, in which years 
there were more or less severe visitations of 
yellow-fever. Miss Susan Binney, in writing 
to a cousin in November, 1799, speaks of having 
spent the summer in a " rural and healthy 
situation fixed in the vicinity of the yellow 
fever metropolis Germantown." 

Mrs. John Cox wrote to her daughter, Mrs. 
James Chestnut, in August, 1797, that the fever 
has again appeared, and that she intends to 
close her house and go to Trenton. "To- 
morrow," she adds, " will bring on poor Sister 
S's * trial, as she must leave behind her the 

*This vras Colonel John Cox's daughter Sarah, who was 
engaged to the distinguished Dr. John Redman Coxe, who 

168 




Mrs. John Redman Coxe 
By Thomas Sully 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

friend of her heart, who is engaged in attending 
the sick — daily witnessing the progress of the 
fever. Though all the Physicians say it yields 
easier to the power of medicine now than in 
93, yet they all agree that many have died — 
D"" C. has not thought it necessary for us to 
leave Town to within two days, and the good 
old D"" Redman has visited me every few days 
and begged me to keep quiet — that he would 
certainly let me know if it grew^ w^orse, or 
crept up from the Street where it took its rise, 
w^hich w^as Penn street near the Water — Yes- 
terday he said it was time for us to go." 

There was evidently much discussion in 
those years with regard to the proper treat- 
ment of yellow^-fever, in the journals of the 
day, as well as in medical circles. A Philadel- 
phia lady, in writing to a Southern relative, 
said : " I suppose you see our papers in which 
our Physicians are at War with each other. 
I hope it will have the good effect of bringing 



remained at his post in Philadelphia while his lady love 
went to Trenton with her mother. Dr. Coxe was in a most 
exposed position, being one of the four physicians appointed 
to report the cases of fever to the Board of Health. In 
another part of her letter Mrs. Cox says that for this reason 
Dr. Coxe urges their departure, although the general opinion 
is that the disease cannot be communicated by a third per- 
son. Dr, John Redman Coxe lived safely through the epi- 
demic, and married Miss Sarah Cox, by which means she 
added an e to her name, and thus brought lasting confusion 
into the ranks of the Coxs and Coxes, only equalled by that 
wrought by the Wisters and Wistars. 
169 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

truth to light at last — It is a great pity they 
cannot agree. . . . W^hat makes it worse is that 
those who ran away for fear of the Yellow 
Fever spent their time in scribbling against 
those who were risking their lives in the cause 
of humanity." 

However the medical world of that day, and 
the laity also, may have differed with regard 
to the origin and treatment of the epidemic, 
there can be no question as to the personal 
courage and devotion to duty of such men as 
Dr. John Redman, one of the oldest Philadel- 
phia physicians, his grandson, Dr. John Red- 
man Coxe, Dr. Rush, Dr. Caspar Wistar, the 
Duffields, Michael Leib, Samuel P. Griffitts, 
Philip Syng Physick, Samuel Cooper, and 
many others. As a proof of the faithful ser- 
vice of the good doctors of old Philadelphia, it 
has been estimated that out of the twenty-five 
physicians then in the active practice of their 
profession, nine lost their lives while attending 
the yellow-fever patients. Among these were 
Dr. Samuel Pleasants, Dr. Annan, Dr. James 
Hutchinson, and Dr. Thompson, who was 
taken ill upon his wedding day and died three 
days later. Dr. Physick was twice stricken 
with the fever, and each time returned heroi- 
cally to his post. 

Bush Hill, where Mr. Adams and his family 
had lived during the first years of their resi- 
dence in Philadelphia, was converted into a 
yellow-fever hospital, and here two citizens of 
foreign parentage, Stephen Girard and Peter 
170 



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Helm, gave to the city of their adoption the 
noblest and most unwearied service. 

Stephen Girard, whom we are \vont to re- 
gard simply as a shrewd, money-getting man, 
not only fitted up the Bush Hill Hospital at a 
large expense to himself, but in the absence 
of competent nurses often ministered to the 
needs of the patients. From records and let- 
ters of the time, it appears that Mr. Girard 
and Mr. Helm conveyed many fever-stricken 
persons from their homes to the hospital, 
w^hich they visited daily, risking their lives 
in their efforts to relieve the misery of its 
inmates. 

For her generosity in opening wide her 
gates to the exile and the homeless from Saint 
Domingo and other islands of the Southern 
sea, Philadelphia has more than twice suffered 
the scourge of a great pestilence; nor has the 
w^armth of her w^elcome to the stranger abated 
in consequence of these sad experiences, for 
to-day, as in that olden time, may be w^ritten 
of this City of Brotherly Love the gracious 
Scriptural encomium, "given to hospitality." 



171 



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CHAPTER V. LIFE IN THE FEDERAL 
CITY 

THE City of Washington, like Phila- 
delphia, is said to have been laid out 
after the plan of ancient Babylon ; 
but there are few persons to-day who will not 
unite w^ith Mr. Jefferson in repudiating the 
idea of any similarity of design between these 
widely dissimilar cities. In one of Mr. Jeffer- 
son's letters he says that, in compliance w^ith 
a request from Major L'Enfant, he has sent 
him accurate plans and scales of Paris, Mar- 
seilles, Bordeaux, Amsterdam, Strasburg, and 
other European cities, -which had been made 
during visits to these places, adding, " they 
are, none of them, comparable to the old 
Babylon, revived in Philadelphia, and exem- 
plified." " Philadelphia griddled across Ver- 
sailles," said one writer in describing the plan 
of the capital city. Some thought of the 
grounds of the old palace of the Bourbons 
may have been in the mind of the French 
engineer to whom is due much of the beauty 
of this unique American city, with its avenues 
radiating from a chief centre, the Capitol, and 
again from stars of less magnitude in the form 
of small parks and circles. A vast labyrinth 
of streets, drives, and parks, ornamented with 
fountains, statues, and parterres, is this city 
which L'Enfant designed for the residence of 

172 



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half a million of people, whose possibilities 
few men of that day could foresee. 

Because W^ashington died before Congress 
was removed to the new capital, we are wont 
to forget how^ deep his interest ■was and how 
much he had to do with the beginnings of the 
fair city, w^hich was destined to bear his name. 
He, like a few other practical men, and many 
speculative ones, believed in the ultimate 
greatness of the Federal City, although in 1793, 
when the corner-stone of the Capitol was laid, 
it required considerable imagination to picture 
a metropolis upon the "ten-mile square," as 
the District of Columbia was first called. A 
plain, bordered by thickly wooded hills, with 
the Potomac winding through its centre, was 
the site of the future capital. The ground was 
marshy in some places and quite uncultivated, 
the surface being covered with scrub oaks and 
the undergrowth that flourishes in swampy 
places. 

President "Washington, to w^hom all this 
country had been familiar from his boyhood, 
who had encamped with the Braddock expedi- 
tion upon this w^ell-watered plain, chose it for 
the site of the national capital, and his choice 
was accepted by Jefferson and Madison, who 
^vere associated with him. He at once bought 
lots in the " ten-mile square," and used every 
effort to stimulate others to do the same, al- 
though he entirely disapproved of Mr. Blod- 
get's plan to establish a lottery to expedite 
the sale of property. During the President's 

173 



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summer vacations he frequently rode over 
from Mount Vernon to superintend the work 
going on in the new city, and in his letters 
he often records these visits to what he mod- 
estly called "the Federal City," although the 
name " Washington " for the city, and " Dis- 
trict of Columbia " for the " ten-mile square " 
upon which it was situated, had been decided 
upon by the commission as early as 1791. 
Upon these occasions, the President stopped 
with Mr. Thomas Law or Mr. Thomas Peter. 
Both of these gentlemen, who had married 
Mrs. Washington's granddaughters, early built 
houses for themselves in the new capital, and 
invested in lots there. Mr. Madison, Mr. 
Dickinson, General Howard, and Mr. Samuel 
Blodget, who w^as for a time Superintendent 
of the Federal City, all invested extensively in 
building-lots. 

Mr. Twining gives an interesting description 
of his attempts to find the residence of Mr. 
Thomas La>v in the forest of Washington, 
which then, in 1795, was pierced through with 
avenues in a more or less perfect state. "After 
going about three quarters of a mile through a 
silent wilderness," he says, " I found myself 
upon a trackless plain partially covered with 
trees and brushw^ood. I in vain looked about 
for Mr. Law's house or some one to guide me 
to it. I therefore rode on in the direction I 
judged the most likely to lead me out of this 
labyrinth. I knew that in case of my not suc- 
ceeding, my retreat was always open to the 

174 




Mrs. Thomas Law 
Bv Gilbert Stuart 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Capitol, for while talking with the workmen I 
observed that all the avenues converged to 
that point. I continued therefore to explore 
my way through thickets, keeping my horse's 
head rather towards the right, to gain, if neces- 
sary, the Potomac, whose bank I might then 
follov7. 

" I had not proceeded far before I saw a 
carriage issue from the forest beyond the plain, 
and I soon perceived that it was making for a 
small bridge, which I now discovered for the 
first time, considerably to the right of the point 
for \vhich I was making. As it approached 
the hope I indulged was confirmed. It was 
Mr. Law's chariot, which in the expectation 
of my arrival at Georgetown, Mr. Law had 
sent for me. The coachman tying my horse 
behind, we recrossed the small bridge, passed 
through the forest I had seen, and a second 
plain beyond it, and reached the banks of the 
Potomac. In a few minutes more we arrived 
at Mr. Law^'s, where I had a most cordial re- 
ception. 

" In the afternoon Mr. Law took me about 
his new estate. His house, built by himself, 
was only a few yards from the steep bank of 
the Potomac, and commanded a fine view 
across the river, here half a mile wide. In 
the rear of the house Mr. Lav\; was building a 
street, consisting of much smaller houses than 
his own, speculating upon a great increase in 
their value when the expected transfer of the 
seat of government should be effected." 

175 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Robert Morris, with John Nicholson and 
James Greenleaf, who were associated with 
him in business, invested heavily in Wash- 
ington lots, and lost in the same proportion, 
probably because they were attempting to 
hold too much land elsewhere at the same 
time, and because the Washington property 
required ready capital for improvements, and 
did not rise in value as rapidly as was ex- 
pected. 

Major L'Enfant, who had rendered valuable 
service to the engineer corps during the Revo- 
lution, and who had later remodelled the City 
Hall in New York and planned Congress Hall 
in Philadelphia, w^as chosen as the engineer 
for the laying out of the capital. The choice 
was an admirable one in some respects ; but, 
although possessed of great ability, Major 
L'Enfant was at times carried by his imagina- 
tion beyond the bonds of practicability, and 
was unwilling to be guided by the common 
sense of his associates. President Washing- 
ton summed up the case in his own terse, for- 
cible manner by saying that "Major L'Enfant 
was as well qualified for the work as any man 
living, but the knowledge of this fact magni- 
fied his self-esteem." 

The French Minister jocosely remarked, in 
allusion to the alphabetical and numerical 
names of the streets, "that L'Enfant was not 
only a child in name, but in education also; 
as from the names he gave the streets, he ap- 
peared to know little else than A, B, C, and i, 

176 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

2, 3."* It appears, however, from a letter of 
the Commissioners, that these names were 
suggested by them, and, in all probability, 
those of the principal avenues which bear the 
names of the sixteen States then in the Union. 

The headstrong and over-sensitive French- 
man finally quarrelled with the Commissioners 
and lost his place. To Andrew Ellicott, a 
Pennsylvania Quaker, was entrusted the task 
of carrying out, with some modifications, the 
plan of Major L'Enfant. 

Whatever may have been the faults of Major 
L'Enfant, it should never be forgotten that to 
his large grasp of the situation and its possi- 
bilities, is chiefly due the great beauty of the 
national capital, ^vhich has grown and spread 
out along the lines laid out by him. 

The broad plateau overlooking the Potomac 
suggested a fitting site for the Capitol. This 
tract of land was owned by Daniel Carroll, and 
was upon the same property as his country- 
seat, Duddington Manor, which during the 
early years of life in the Federal City was the 
scene of much generous hospitality. 

The first plan for the Capitol was designed 
by Dr. "William Thornton, a native of the 
West Indies and a friend of Mr. Jefferson, 
who suggested to the architect the cotton 
blossom, tobacco leaf, and other original and 
appropriate emblems, which were afterwards 

* " The Seat of Government of the United States," by 
Joseph B. Varnum, Jr. 

12 177 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

employed in the decoration of the building. It 
has often been stated that Dr. Thornton was 
the architect of the Capitol ; but although his 
plan possessed great merit and ■was at first ap- 
proved, Mr. Carstairs and Colonel "Williams, 
who formed the Commission on Architecture, 
found it impracticable in some respects and 
more expensive than a design presented by 
Stephen L. Hallett, a French architect v/ho 
resided in New York. This latter plan was 
accepted by the Commissioners, and Mr. 
James Hoban, Superintendent of the Capitol, 
was advised to begin the work upon the plan 
exhibited by Mr. Hallett, leaving " the recess 
in the east front open to further considera- 
tion." * 

Dr. Thornton's attitude in this matter seems 
to have been most courteous, as he asked to 
have his plan submitted to a competent com- 
mission. He was really an amateur, although 
possessed of excellent taste in architecture. f 

One charming idea of Major L'Enfant, which 
if carried out would have added much to the 



* Mr. Hoban, an Irish architect, not only supervised the 
building of the Capitol, but planned the White House, 
which is said to have been copied from the residence of an 
Irish nobleman in Dublin. 

t Mr. Charles Burr Todd, in his" Story of Washington," 
says that this much-controverted point with regard to the 
authorship of the plan of the Capitol has been definitely 
settled by reference to the Washington letters in the State 
Department, and by letters of General Washington to the 
Commissioners, preserved in the War Department. 

178 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

beauty of this city, was to have the White 
House connected with the Capitol by a garden, 
or series of parterres, after the plan of the 
Chamber of Deputies and the Tuileries in 
Paris. Instead of Major L'Enfant's fair gar- 
den, there lay for many years between the 
Capitol and the White House two miles of 
tenacious yellow mud. 

When the Congress moved from Philadel- 
phia to its future municipal home, in the first 
year of the new century, there were not only 
no gardens around the Capitol and the W^hite 
House, but streets and avenues were still an 
unknow^n luxury. 

Gouverneur Morris said of Washington in 
these early days, that it was " the best city in 
the world for a future residence. We want 
nothing here but houses, cellars, kitchens, 
well informed men, amiable women, and other 
little trifles of this kind, to make our city per- 
fect." A climax in the way of comparisons 
was reached when Mr. Jackson, British Min- 
ister, as late as 1809, likened the Federal City 
to Hampstead Heath, and declared that he 
had " started a covey of partridges about three 
hundred yards from the House of Congress." 

The serious inconveniences of living in a 
city, that was only completed upon paper, may 
be gathered from the letters of senators and 
representatives. Mr. Oliver Wolcott wrote 
to his v^ife : " I have made every exertion to 
secure good lodgings near the office, but shall 
be compelled to take them at the distance of 
179 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

more than half a mile. There are in fact but 
few houses at any one place, and most of 
them small, miserable huts, which present an 
awful contrast to the public buildings. The 
people are poor, and, as far as I can judge, 
they live like fishes, by eating each other. All 
the ground for several miles around the city, 
being, in the opinion of the people, too valu- 
able to be cultivated, remains unfenced. There 
are but few enclosures, even for gardens, and 
those are in bad order. You may look in al- 
most any direction over an extent of ground 
nearly as large as the city of New York, -with- 
out seeing a fence or any object except brick 
kilns and temporary huts for laborers." 

Mrs. Adams and her party while going to 
the capital lost their way in the woods be- 
tween Baltimore and Washington, and after 
wandering about without finding a guide or a 
path, met " a straggling black," who extricated 
them from their difficulties. " Woods," she 
adds, " are all you see from Baltimore until 
you reach the city, which is only so in name." 

Mrs. Adams, in writing to her daughter 
in November, 1800, soon after her arrival in 
W^ashington, says that there are enough build- 
ings to accommodate Congress, but all so 
scattered that little comfort is to be expected. 
The W^hite House she considers upon "a 
grand and superb scale, requiring about thirty 
servants to attend and keep the apartments in 
proper order, and perform the ordinary busi- 
ness of the house and stables ; an establish- 
180 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

ment very well proportioned to the President's 
salary. The lighting the apartments, from 
kitchen to parlours and chambers is a tax in- 
deed." The ^vork of the house, she adds, \vas 
seriously retarded by having no bells in this 
"great castle," and no fence or yard around it, 
which necessitated the drying of the clothes 
in the large audience room. This good lady's 
w^oes at Bush Hill, near Philadelphia, pale 
before her pioneer experiences in this " new 
country." Surrounded by forests, she found it 
almost impossible to get enough wood to build 
sufficient fires in the freshly plastered house to 
keep off the ague. The principal stairs were 
not up, and would not be until spring. She 
says that only six chambers were habitable, 
t'wo of which were occupied by the President 
and Mr. Shaw ; in short, the outlook for the 
next six months was rather gloomy. It is not 
strange that this energetic Nev*^ England 
woman, in summing up the salient points of 
the situation, should have come to the con- 
clusion that, "if the twelve or thirteen years 
in which this place has been considered as the 
future seat of government, had been improved, 
as they would have been in New England, 
very many of the present inconveniences 
would have been removed." 

Some bright spots this clever little woman 
found in her Washington life, as in all her 
other trying experiences. The incomparable 
Mrs. Bingham, Miss Hamilton, and kindly 
Mrs. Powel were not here to comfort her as 
i8i 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

in Philadelphia, but many ladies came from 
the hospitable old towns of Alexandria and 
Georgetown to welcome the President's lady. 
These guests, Mrs. Adams was obliged to re- 
ceive in a general parlor, hastily fitted up ; the 
oval room w^ith handsome crimson furniture, 
which was designed for a drawing-room, not 
being completed. There also came a prompt 
note of welcome from Mrs. Lawrence Lewis, 
with love from her widowed grandmother, the 
mistress of Mount Vernon, and an invitation 
to Mrs. Adams to visit her there, which the 
New England lady says that she intends to 
do, health permitting. If Mrs. Adams ac- 
complished this visit, no letters describing it 
have been preserved. Other visitors to Mount 
Vernon, in these days after the General's death, 
have left pleasant descriptions of the welcome 
that was extended to them by Mrs. Washing- 
ton, who put aside her own grief to exercise 
the hospitality that -was as distinguishing a 
trait of the mistress, as it had been of the 
master, of Mount Vernon. 

Mrs. Adams's letters to her daughter at this 
time are either less frequent or too confi- 
dential and intimate for publication, and the 
reader of to-day misses such brilliant, graphic 
pictures of persons and scenes in Washing- 
ton, as have preserved for future generations 
Mrs. Adams's impressions of Court life in the 
Old World, or of that of the early years of the 
Republic in New York and in Philadelphia. 
The buoyant spirit that enabled her to rise 
182 



1 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

above all the trials and difficulties of her life 
and to declare, in the midst of perplexities 
about her children and anxiety about her absent 
husband, that she was " a mortal enemy to 
anything but a cheerful countenance and a 
merry heart," seems to have sometimes for- 
saken Abigail Adams during the early months 
of her residence in Washington. Her health 
was not good, and she had been depressed by 
the trying political campaign through which 
her husband had passed, which had made it 
quite plain that there would be no second term 
in office for Mr. Adams. 

This combination of adverse circumstances 
may have caused Mrs. Adams's sarcasm to be 
somewhat more trenchant than in earlier and 
happier days. In speaking of the delay in the 
meeting of Congress, she says, evidently re- 
ferring to Mr. Jefferson : " The Senate is much 
behind-hand. No Congress has yet been made. 

'Tis said is on his way, but travels 

with so many delicacies in his rear, that he 
cannot get on fast, lest some of them should 
suffer." 

The ladies — probably the Georgetown and 
Alexandria ladies as well as the cabinet women 
— were impatient for a drawing-room, said 
Mrs. Adams, and a drawing-room they had 
on New^ Year's Day, 1801, although, as she 
wrote to her daughter, there -were " no looking 
glasses but dwarfs for this house, nor a twen- 
tieth part lamps enough to light it." Presi- 
dent Adams received in the first-floor rooms, 

183 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

and Mrs. Adams held her drawing-room in 
the oval room on the second floor, which was 
afterwards used as a library. 

Mr. Dana feaillie Worden, an Irish gentle- 
man, who was sometime Secretary to the 
American Legation at Paris, in his recollec- 
tions of official life in Washington early in 
the century, speaks with warm admiration 
of the ladies " in the territory of Columbia." 
" The state of female society at Washing- 
ton," says Mr. W^orden, " does great honor to 
the sex. They have been accused of sacri- 
ficing too much to the empire of fashion, but 
as we have not been able to verify the ex- 
tent of this tribute, it would be dangerous 
to decide on so delicate a subject. They are 
certainly superior women, generally highly 
gifted in mental as they are with personal 
adornments. They have hitherto withstood 
the lamentable ravages which art and luxury 
have, in other great cities, produced upon the 
sex. There is an evil, however, \vhich is 
deeply lamented. It is natural to love those 
who are made to be loved; and no sooner do 
the young ladies of Washington arrive at the 
nubile age than they give their hands to some 
\vooing stranger or Member of Congress, w^ho 
carries them off to his distant home. The 
young citizens who have been daily contem- 
plating the regular advances of these shoots 
into perfection, disappointed in their ardent 
intentions, sigh and exclaim (not without 
reason) against the corruptions of the times, 
184 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

against family interest and an unnatural, dis- 
heartening preference to foreigners. Wash- 
ington thus resembles a nursery whose fine 
plants are annually transplanted to foreign and 
less congenial soil. . . . Respectable strangers, 
after the slightest introduction, are invited to 
dinners and evening parties. Those at the 
President's house unite simplicity with the 
greatest refinement of manners. Tea parties 
have become very expensive, as not only tea 
but coffee, negus, cakes, sweetmeats, iced 
creams, wine and liquors are often presented, 
and in a sultry summer evening are found too 
palatable to be refused. In winter there is a 
succession of family balls, where all this spe- 
cies of luxury is exhibited." 

During the Presidential election of 1800, 
there occurred the very remarkable tie be- 
tween Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, 
which threw the important choice into the 
House of Representatives. After seven days' 
balloting, it was announced on February 17, 
1801, that ten States, a sufficient number, had 
voted for Mr. Jefferson as President of the 
United States. In a periodical of the time, 
there appeared the following description of 
the part taken by Judge Nicholson in this 
electoral contest, w^hich gives a good idea of 
the spirit and determination of the old-time 
Jefferson Democrat : 

" At the time of the election by the House, 
the result depended on a single vote. Mr. 
Joseph Hopper Nicholson, one of the Repre- 

18S 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

sentatives from Maryland, had been for some 
weeks confined to his bed, and was so ill that 
his life was considered in danger. Ill as he 
was, he insisted on being carried to the Hall 
of Representatives, in order to give his vote. 
The physicians absolutely forbade such a pro- 
ceeding. He insisted, and they appealed to his 
wife, telling her such a removal and the con- 
sequent excitement might prove fatal to his 
life. ' Be it so then,' said she ; ' if my hus- 
band must die, let it be at the post of duty. 
No weakness of mine shall oppose his noble 
resolution.' . . . The patient vi^as carried to the 
Capitol, where a bed w^as prepared for him in 
an ante-room adjoining the Senate Chamber, 
followed by his heroic wife, where during the 
four or five days and nights of balloting she 
remained by his side, supporting by various 
restoratives — much more by her presence — 
the strength of the feeble invalid, who with 
difficulty traced the name of Jefferson each 
time that the ballot box was handed to him." 
Mrs. Nicholson, who under these trying cir- 
cumstances proved herself to have been a 
woman of courage and spirit, developed these 
traits at an early age, as appears from a story 
of her childhood preserved in the Lloyd fam- 
ily, of Maryland. Upon the approach of the 
British, who afterw^ards burned her father's, 
Colonel Lloyd's, house, Rebecca was taken 
out of bed ^vith the other children and hurried 
to a place of safety. Instead of being fright- 
ened by this unusual proceeding, the little 

z86 




Mrs. Joseph Hupper Nicholson 
By Richard Cosway 




Charles Hall 
Page 213 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

girl's wrath was aroused against the invading 
enemy, of whom she made uncomplimen- 
tary remarks, which she had doubtless heard 
from her elders, and concluded by exclaiming, 

" D the British, they shan't take the buckle 

off my tipper [slipper]." 

Mrs. Nicholson's sister, Mary Lloyd, mar- 
ried Francis Scott Key, the author of the 
"Star Spangled Banner."* 

Joseph Hopper Nicholson, who was after- 
wards Presiding Judge of the Baltimore Court 
of Appeals, was a member of Congress during 
Mr. Jefferson's administration, and with his 
wife spent much of his time in Washington. 

Mr. Henry Adams says that the much- 
quoted tale of an English traveller, who spoke 
of the President-elect riding on horseback to 
the Capitol, unattended by guard or servant, 
dismounting, hitching his horse to the palings, 
and entering the halls of legislature to be in- 

* Mrs. Rebecca Lloyd Shippen, of Baltimore, a grand- 
daughter of Judge Nicholson, who has in her possession 
the original manuscript of the " Star Spangled Banner," 
says that Mr. Key composed the poem while on a vessel in 
the Baltimore harbor during the night of the bombardment 
of Fort McHenry, as has always been stated. The original 
draft, in ink and upon the back of an old letter, was written 
afterwards at the hotel by Mr. Key from his notes and from 
memory. This draft Mr. Key took to his brother-in-law, 
Judge Nicholson, w^ho being a poet and musician, fitted the 
words to the tune "Anacreon in Heaven," which was much 
in vogue at that time. Within an hour the song was sent 
to a printer living near Judge Nicholson's house, and soon 
after was sung all over the town. 
187 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

augurated with as little ceremony as he would 
have observed in going in to breakfast with a 
friend, is absolutely without foundation. Mr. 
Davis, the narrator, was not in the capital at 
the time, and Mr. Jefferson, who was stopping 
at Conrad's boarding-house, within a stone's 
throw of the Capitol, walked thither escorted 
by a body of militia, and accompanied by the 
Secretaries of the Navy and the Treasury. 

Other descriptions, not so easily discredited, 
are those of Senator Maclay, Augustiri Foster, 
and many another visitor in Washington, 
which represent the brilliant, sagacious, ver- 
satile statesman, who was, says Mr. Adams, 
"in the village simplicity of Washington more 
than a king," appearing decidedly unkempt as 
to the hair and toilet, in corduroy small clothes, 
red plush waistcoat, yarn stockings, and slip- 
pers down at heel. The soul of kindness and 
generosity w^as Jefferson, ^vhom Mr. Forbes 
described as "appearing like a tall large boned 
farmer," capable of the most graceful cour- 
tesy, of compliments galore when ladies were 
present, and so given to hospitality that the 
steward said that it sometimes cost fifty dol- 
lars a day to provide for his many guests. 

Mr. Jefferson had not been in ofBce long 
before it became evident that he had made a 
mistake in abolishing the weekly levee. As 
there were no regular receptions held by the 
President, he was accessible to visitors at all 
hours, except when engaged with his cabinet 
and during the sessions of Congress. Inter- 

z88 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

ruptions, as frequent as those to which the 
President was subjected, must have proved to 
be a sad waste of precious time, as ^vell as ex- 
ceedingly irksome. Nor was this informahty 
in social matters agreeable to the majority 
of ^A^ashington residents. There were many 
persons, especially among the fair sex, who 
missed the weekly receptions which they had 
enjoyed under the preceding administration. 
Some of the disaffected, whether instigated 
by the Federalists in Washington or by some 
of the ladies, " hit upon an expedient," says 
Mr. Parton, " to balk the president's intention 
of abolishing the levee. On the usual day, at 
the usual hour, — two in the afternoon — ladies 
and gentlemen began to arrive at the presi- 
dent's house, attired in the manner customary 
at the levees. The president w^as not at home. 
He was enjoying his regular two hours' ride 
on horseback, which nothing but absolute 
necessity could make him forego. When he 
returned at three o'clock, and learned that the 
great rooms were filled with company waiting 
to see him, he guessed their object, and frus- 
trated it gracefully, and with perfect good 
humor, by merely going among them, all ac- 
coutred as he was, booted, spurred, splashed 
with mud, riding w^hip in hand, and greeting 
them as though the conjunction of so many 
guests were merely a joyous coincidence. 
They, in their turn, caught the spirit of the 
joke, and the affair ended happily. But it was 
the last of the levees." 

189 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Another innovation made by Mr. Jefferson 
was to do away with state dinners as much as 
possible, and instead to entertain in the hos- 
pitable style of the planter of Old Virginia. 
The dining-room of the White House being 
much more accessible than that upon a remote 
plantation, we can readily believe that Mr. 
Jefferson's dinner-table did not suffer from 
lack of guests. Edmund Bacon, the steward 
of Monticello, was often at the White House 
for many days in succession. In speaking of 
the life there, he said that there were eleven 
servants in the establishment, besides the 
French cook, French steward, and Irish 
coachman. Mr. Bacon recorded that the long 
dining-table was full every day that he spent 
in the White House, the company being com- 
posed of Congressmen, foreigners, and people 
of all kinds. " He dined at four o'clock," said 
Mr. Bacon, " and they generally sat and talked 
until night. It used to v/eary me to sit so 
long ; and I finally quit when I got through 
eating and went off and left them." 

When Mr. Jefferson gave state dinners, his 
disregard of etiquette was sometimes the 
cause of serious misunderstandings. Mr. 
Merry, sometime British Minister, who is 
described as a perfect " Turveydrop " in mat- 
ters of etiquette, was not only shocked at 
the informality of his own reception, but at 
seeing the President, at a formal dinner at the 
White House, offer his arm to Mrs. Madison 
instead of to the guest of the occasion, Mrs. 

190 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Merry. " Poor Merry," says Mr. Parton, 
" made such an outcry at this in Washington, 
that Mr. Madison deemed it best to explain 
the circumstances to Mr. Monroe, the Ameri- 
can Minister in London, that he might be pre- 
pared to meet Merry's version. Mr. Merry 
did relate his grievances to the English Min- 
ister for Foreign Affairs ; -who, however, forbore 
to mention it to Monroe. If he had, Monroe 
was ready for him ; for, beside being fully alive 
to the humor of the affair, he had seen, a few 
weeks before, in an official London drawing- 
room, the wife of an under-secretary of state 
accorded precedence over his own. Mrs. 
Merry went no more to the White House, 
and her husband only went -when official duty 
compelled." 

Fortunately for this most democratic admin- 
istration, the wife of the Secretary of State 
was generally at hand to smooth over rough 
places and to give ease and elegance, by her 
presence and her manners, to functions that 
would otherwise have been hopelessly crude. 
During Mr. Jefferson's second administration 
his daughters were with him very little ; Mrs. 
Randolph \vas naturally absorbed in the care 
of her large family, and Mrs. Eppes's health 
failed soon after her marriage. Mrs. Madison 
and her sister. Miss Payne, afterwards Mrs. 
Richard Cutts, were often called upon by Mr. 
Jefferson to preside in the absence of his 
daughters. Another sister, Lucy, who mar- 
ried Mr. Washington, made her home with 

191 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Mrs. Madison after her husband's death. Mr. 
Irving met Mrs. Cutts and Mrs. Washington 
at the White House, and likened them to 
"two merry wives of Windsor." 

Mrs. Madison's exquisite tact, true kindness, 
great adaptabiHty, and personal charm were 
much appreciated in Washington society, and 
it soon became an established fact that the 
social functions, that v/ere lacking at the White 
House, would be more than compensated for 
by Mrs. Madison's evening receptions. 

With less intellectual ability than Mrs. 
Adams, and less stability and depth of char- 
acter than Mrs. Washington, Mrs. Madison 
possessed far more tact and true knowledge 
of the world than either of her predecessors. 
Those who would have dreaded the formality 
of receptions at the homes of the cabinet 
officers or the foreign ministers, were drawn 
to Mrs. Madison's salon by the irresistible 
attraction of her personality and the warmth 
of her welcome. Long before Mr. Madison 
was elected President of the United States, 
Mrs. Madison's evenings were important social 
and political functions, which were attended 
by literary men, artists, wits and beauties, 
as well as by statesmen and cabinet ladies, 
and this not because she -was an intellectual 
woman, a wit, or a beauty, but because she 
possessed the greatest social power that a 
woman can wield, the ability to draw men 
and w^omen of various tastes around her, to 
hold their interest and admiration, and, above 

192 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

all, to enable them to appear at their best. 
In Mrs. Madison's draAA/^ing-room she shone 
herself, because she was well fitted to shine 
by her beauty, her grace and her taet ; but 
her greatest talent was her power of making 
others shine. Statesmen and diplomats w^ere 
glad to attend Mrs. Madison's evenings be- 
cause they admired her and enjoyed the soci- 
ety of those whom she gathered around her, 
while strangers, who came to Washington in 
those days, found her drawing-room a place 
where the shyest and the least known were 
at once made to feel at home by the warm 
welcome and unobtrusive attentions of the 
sympathetic hostess. 

A number of names comparatively new in 
political life were to be found in Mr. Jeflfer- 
son's cabinet, as those of Henry Dearborn, of 
Maine, Secretary of War, Gideon Granger, of 
Connecticut, Postmaster-General, and Levi 
Lincoln, of Massachusetts, Attorney-General 
of the United States, side by side with the old 
familiar ones of James Madison, Secretary of 
State, James Monroe, John Marshall, Chief- 
Justice, and Albert Gallatin, the Swiss patriot, 
who succeeded Mr. Wolcott as Secretary of 
the Treasury. 

In the diplomatic service were such well- 
known faces as those of Mr. David Montague 
Erskine, British Minister, and the Marquis de 
Casa Yrujo. To the Spanish Minister Mr. 
Jefferson was attached by reason of his politi- 
cal sentiments and the family connections 
13 193 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

which he had made in America, as his father- 
in-law, Governor McKean, was a personal as 
well as a political friend of the President. The 
Marquis de Casa Yrujo, who afterwards made 
himself most unpopular to all parties by the 
position taken by him with regard to the 
purchase of Florida and Louisiana, was a 
favored individual during the early years of 
Mr. Jefferson's administration, and to add to 
his popularity, he was accompanied by his 
beautiful American wife. The second son of 
the Marquis de Casa Yrujo, and the only one 
who lived to succeed to his father's title and 
estates, was born in the republican capital. 

The magnificence of the Marquis de Casa 
Yrujo in his court costume, upon which 
writers of the time were wont to dwell, must 
upon occasions have been eclipsed by that of 
the French Minister, who is thus described 
by a New Year's caller at the "White House : 
"After partaking of some ice-creams and a 
glass of Madeira, shaking hands with the 
President and tendering our good wishes, we 
were preparing to leave the rooms, when our 
attention was attracted through the window 
towards what w^e conceived to be a rolling 
ball of burnished gold, carried with swiftness 
through the air by two gilt wings. Our anxiety 
increased the nearer it approached, until it 
actually stopped before the door; and from it 
alighted, weighted with gold lace, the French 
Minister and suite. We now also perceived 
that what we had supposed to be wings, were 

194 




Copyright, 1900, by C. S. Brailfor.l. 

Lady Erskine 

(Frances Cadwalader) 

Bv Gilbert Stuart 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

nothing more than gorgeous footmen with 
chapeaux bras, gilt braided skirts and splen- 
did swords. Nothing ever was witnessed in 
Washington so brilliant and dazzling, — a 
meridian sun blazing full on this carriage filled 
with diamonds and glittering orders, and gilt 
to the edge of the wheels, — you may well 
imagine how the natives stared and rubbed 
their eyes to be convinced 'twas no fairy 
dream. . . ." 

The Marchioness de Casa Yrujo was not the 
only American woman in the corps diploj}iatique, 
as Frances Cadwalader, who had married Mr. 
Erskine* in 1799, accompanied her husband 
when he was appointed to Mr. Merry's place 
in Washington. 

A number of letters written by Mrs. Erskine 
to her Philadelphia relatives, and by friends 
and members of her family who surrounded 
her in England, all testify to the fine traits of 
character of this young w^oman who married 
at sixteen, and left her home to live in a foreign 
land before she was twenty. 

Sarah Brian, a faithful servant in the Cad- 
walader and Goldsborough families, who ac- 
companied Mrs. Erskine's mother, Mrs. John 
Cadwalader, to England, and lived for years 
with the Erskines, has left several interesting 
descriptions of Mrs. Erskine, In one of her 
letters from England, June 15, 1806, Sarah 

* The Honorable David Montagfue Erskine became Lord. 
Erskine upon the death of his father in 1823. 

19s 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Brian, who seems to have possessed the pen 
of a ready writer, speaks of Mr. and Mrs. 
Erskine's departure for America. " I do not 
think," she says, " that Mrs. Erskine is altered 
in the least since she left America either in 
look or manners. She has the same sweet- 
ness of temper that she had when she w^as 
Fanny Cadwalader. She was presented (at 
Court) about 2 months ago. She was dressed 
in black crape with black beads done all over 
and something like a crown on her head with 
seven large feathers done in stars with jet and 
a great hoop that stuck out 4 yards round. 
After that she went to the King's birthday — 
She was dressed in white crape all done 
through with white beads, and something like 
a crown on her head with 7 great white feath- 
ers — diamond earrings and necklace. This 
dress exclusive of the ornaments was 40 
guineas and the black was 30." 

If Mrs. Erskine, who was a rare beauty, 
appeared in Washington in costumes as bril- 
liant as those described by Sarah Brian, she 
must have been greatly admired. In one of 
her letters, written to her cousin, Miss Mere- 
dith, sometime before Mrs. Erskine's return to 
America, she speaks of the prevalence of the 
turban in London, which gained such ascend- 
ency in America during the social reign of 
Mrs. Madison. "Turkish turbans made of 
soft "muslin rolled round the head are very 
much worn, they are extremely pretty with a 
Bird of Paradise Feather put in at the side 

196 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

and drooping very low over one eye." Al- 
though Mrs. Erskine says that she never 
wears a turban herself, as she thinks that a 
young person looks best with nothing at all 
upon her head, she quotes the high price of 
wigs and tells her cousin that she has one 
for which she paid six guineas, which she 
intends shall last her the rest of her life. 

The Erskines spent some weeks with Lord 
and Lady Liston,* at their country-seat six 
miles from Edinburgh, before sailing for Amer- 
ica. Mrs, Cadwalader, Mrs. Erskine's mother, 
was with her during this visit, and her four 
children, tw^o of whom she brought to America 
with her. 

Mr. and Mrs. Erskine returned to England 
about i8og, when Mr. Francis Jackson was 
appointed Minister from Great Britain. Mr. 
Samuel Breck, who was in Washington in 
October, 1809, speaks of lodging at the Union 
Inn with " Mr. Jackson and his family (a nev^^ 
minister plenipotentiary arrived from Eng- 
land), Mr. Erskine (the recalled Minister), and 
Mr. Wood, the British Consul of Baltimore." 

Lord Erskine was for many years British 
Minister to W^urtemberg and to Bavaria. 
From Stuttgart Lady Erskine wrote charming 
letters to her mother in England, telling her 
of the many pleasures of her life, which Mrs. 

* Sir Robert Liston had been British Minister to the 
United States during President Washington's administra- 
tion. 

197 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Cadwalader declined to share on account of 
her dread of the sea. Mrs. Erskine dwells with 
enthusiasm upon the beauty of the flowers, 
especially of the roses, and the orange-trees 
in full flower. She also speaks of the great 
kindness of the dow^ager Queen, whose invi- 
tation to Frederick's Haven she and Lord 
Erskine have been obliged to accept, because 
they were invited the year before and did not 
go. Faithful Sarah Brian in one of her letters 
has left a pleasant picture of Lady Erskine 
and her half dozen beautiful daughters, playing 
Ladies Bountiful to the destitute peasantry 
near their Bavarian home. Mary, Elizabeth, 
Stewarta, Margaret, Sevilla, and Jane all 
come in for a share of the fond foster- 
mother's admiration; "but Miss Jane," she 
adds, " will, I think, be the greatest beauty of 
them all."* 

* Mary Erskine married Hermann Tautphoeus Count Von 
Baumgarten of Bavaria, and lived in the great Chateau 
of Ehring. Mary Erskine was not the author of " The 
Initials," as has often been stated. The Baroness 
Tautphoeus, who wrote the novels, was a Scotch lady, 
Jemima Montgomery. Jane Erskine, in 1837, married 
her cousin, James H. Callander, great-grandson of Henry 
David Erskine, Earl of Buchan. J. T. Headley, in his 
"Letters from Italy," speaks of meeting Mrs. Callander 
at Genoa : " The other evening I was at an unusually bril- 
liant assembly at the Palace of the Governor, and as I was 
standing amid a group of officers I caught a view of a 
head and face that drew from me an involuntary exclama- 
tion, there was a beauty and expression about it I had seen 
but once before in my life, but no one could tell me who 

193 



1 




Di. John Bullus 
By Gilbert Stuart 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 



Among women who were prominent in the 
social life of Washington were Mrs. William 
W. Seaton (Sarah Gales), Mrs. Albert Galla- 
tin, Mrs. James Monroe, an elegant and ac- 
complished woman although not as fond of 
society as Mrs. Madison ; Mrs. Alexander 
Macomb, Mrs. Richard Rush, and Mrs. John 
Bullus, who was a daughter of Colonel Charles 
Rumsey, of Cecil County, Maryland. 

Dr. and Mrs. Bullus went to Washington 
soon after their marriage, in 1800, and lived 
there a number of years. Dr. Bullus had 
studied medicine in Philadelphia with Dr. 
Benjamin Rush, and entered the navy as sur- 
geon when war with France v/as imminent. 
He afterwards resigned his commission to 
accept an appointment as Consul to Mar- 



she was or where she came from, yet all looked as if they 
would give the world to know. At length seeing her seated 
in familiar conversation beside a lady with whom I was 
acquainted, I soon pierced the mystery that surrounded 
her. You can guess my surprise and pleasure to learn that 
this beauty was of American origin. She was the daughter 
of Lord Erskine, who when Minister [Secy, of Legation] 
to the U. S. had married a beautiful Philadelphia lady, 
daughter of Mr, Cadwalader, who it seems has transmitted 
the charms that had enthralled the noble Lord to the 
daughter. You can judge of the effect of American beauty 
on the Italians when I tell you that while I stood by her 
the young nobles marched by her in regular platoons and 
paused as they came opposite to her and gazed as if they 
had been moon-struck. The radiant creature sat quite un- 
conscious of all this of course, as the lady sitting by her 
side not very amiably whispered to me." 

199 



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seilles, and, sailing with his wife and family 
on the " Chesapeake," with Captain James 
Barron, in June, 1807, was a witness of and 
a participant in the very remarkable en- 
counter between the " Chesapeake " and the 
" Leopard." Having removed his wife and 
children to a place of safety, Dr. BuUus took 
his position on deck and remained there during 
this one-sided and unequal engagement. After 
the "Chesapeake" returned to port, Dr. Bul- 
lus relinquished the consulate at Marseilles. 
Having been an eye-witness of the affair be- 
tween the "Chesapeake" and the "Leopard," 
he was selected by President Madison as 
bearer of despatches and sent to England in 
relation to the matter. 

A pleasant little story is told by the Bullus 
family vi^hich gives some idea of the generous 
hospitality of Mr. and Mrs. Custis, of Arling- 
ton. Dr. and Mrs. Bullus were invited to a 
tea-party at Arlington. Mrs. Bullus was not 
able to accompany her husband. While at the 
table Dr. Bullus admired the beautiful cups 
and saucers, which were of Sevres china, each 
one bearing the initials G. W^. in gold letters 
as they belonged to a set of china presented 
to General Washington by the Comte de Cus- 
tine. The next day came a basket of goose- 
berries from Mrs. Custis to Mrs. Bullus, and 
buried under the berries was one of the beau- 
tiful cups and saucers. 

Mrs. Custis was the wife of Mr. George 
Washington Parke Custis, of Arlington, the 
200 




Mrs. John Bullus 
By Gilbert Stuart 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

grandson of Mrs. Washington and the adopted 
son of the General. Mrs. Custis, her sister- 
in-law, Mrs. Lawrence Lewis, who lived at 
Mount Vernon during her grandmother's life, 
and Mrs. Bushrod Washington, who resided 
there after Mrs. Washington's death, were all 
much in Washington society in the early years 
of the century. Mrs. Lawrence Lewis's sis- 
ters, Mrs. Thomas Peter and Mrs. Thomas 
Law^, were both living in W^ashington. Mrs. 
Law was as beautiful as Mrs. Lewis, although 
of a less spiritudle and delicate type of beauty. 
It is said that when Gilbert Stuart was paint- 
ing a portrait of General Washington, Mrs. 
Law, then Eliza Custis, came in from the 
garden and stood with her arms folded watch- 
ing the progress of the painting. The artist 
looked up from his work, and, with his quick 
appreciation of the character and grace of the 
pose as well as of the beauty of the face, ex- 
claimed that he would like to paint a portrait 
of Miss Custis just as she stood, and thus it 
was painted. 

It was w^hen Mr. Law^ offered himself to 
Miss Custis that General W^ashington wrote 
her his famous letter, giving her his own philo- 
sophic views of love and marriage. Unfor- 
tunately, the young girl did not listen to the 
words of wisdom contained in this epistle ; 
for, although Mr. Law's appearance, bril- 
liancy, and great -wealth w^ere quite sufficient 
to bewilder any girl in her teens, his eccen- 
tricities were such as to preclude any hope 

201 



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of real happiness. An habitud of Washington 
City in the early years of the century, in speak- 
ing of Mr. Law as one of the celebrities of the 
capital, said that there were few persons then 
living who had not some anecdote to relate 
respecting his eccentricities as w^ell as his 
brilliant talent. This distinguished gentleman 
was a younger brother of Lord Ellenborough, 
who had succeeded Lord Kenyon as Lord 
Chief Justice of the King's Bench. 

Mr. Law's early life had been passed in 
India with Lord Cornwallis, where he held a 
high civil position, whose duties he discharged 
with signal ability. " Infected by the spirit of 
liberty then moving all nations," said a con- 
temporary writer, " Mr. Law's enthusiasm was 
roused in favor of Republican institutions, 
and, inspired with ardent admiration for the 
character of V/ashington, he came to America; 
having however, no political affinities w^hatever 
in this country. He attracted much attention 
from his fine person, aristocratic connections, 
and undoubted genius, and also from his 
wealth, which, accumulated in the golden 
days of India, was dissipated chiefly through 
building speculations, for which he had a 
mania ; w^hile he w^as also generous, prodigal 
indeed, in good works, as in the hospitalities 
dispensed at his country-seat near Washing- 
ton." 

The simplicity and informality introduced 
by Mr. Jefferson, disappeared with astonishing 
rapidity during the next administration, when 

202 



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Mrs. Madison held undisputed sway in the 
social world. 

Mrs. "William Seaton, describing Mrs. Madi- 
son's drawing-room, in a letter to a friend, 
said: "Her majesty's appearance was truly 
regal, — dressed in a robe of pink satin, trimmed 
elaborately with ermine, a white velvet and 
satin turban, with nodding ostrich-plumes and 
a crescent in front, gold chains and clasps 
around the waist and wrists. 'Tis here the 
^voman w^ho adorns the dress, and not the 
dress that beautifies the woman. I cannot 
conceive a female better calculated to dignify 
the station which she occupies in society than 
Mrs. Madison, — Amiable in private life and 
affable in public, she is admired and esteemed 
by the rich and beloved by the poor. You are 
aware that she snuffs; but in her hands the 
snuff-box seems only a gracious implement 
with w^hich to charm. Her frank cordiality to 
all her guests is in contrast to the manner of 
the President, who is formal, reserved and 
precise, yet not wanting in a certain dignity. 
Being so low of stature, he was in imminent 
danger of being confounded w^ith the plebeian 
crowd, and was pushed and jostled about 
like a common citizen, — but not so with her 
ladyship ! The towering feathers and exces- 
sive throng distinctly pointed out her station 
w^herever she moved." 

Mrs. Seaton was surprised and shocked by 
the amount of powder and rouge used by 
fashionable women, many of whom spoke 
203 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

quite frankly of putting on these " foreign aids 
of ornament," as they talked of wearing lace 
or jewels. Mrs. Seaton was also scandalized 
by the dccolletd style of dressing among w^omen 
of all ages. " Madame Bonaparte," she said, 
"is a model of fashion, and many of our belles 
strive to imitate her ; . . . . but without equal 
hlat, as Madame Bonaparte has certainly the 
most transcendently beautiful back and shoul- 
ders that ever were seen." 

" Mrs. Madison is said to rouge," wrote 
Mrs. Seaton, " but not evident to my eyes, and 
I do not think it true, as I am well assured I 
saw her color come and go at the naval ball, 
when the Macedonian flag was presented to 
her by young Hamilton." 

In the midst of gayety and merrymaking, 
there came, during Mr. Madison's second term 
in office, days of suspense to the country, and 
of danger to the capital which was not forti- 
fied or in any w^ay prepared for defence. The 
new Republic w^as suddenly brought face to 
face w^ith a proposition with which it has been 
confronted in later times. The Commander- 
in-chief of the armies of the United States 
was a great statesman ; but he knew nothing 
practically of w^ar, and matters were not im- 
proved by the presence at his right hand of an 
ineff"ectual Secretary of War. General Arm- 
strong saw no reason to fortify the capital of 
the nation, and that capital was speedily taken 
possession of by the trained soldiers of a war- 
like people. 

204 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Mr. Madison, in company with the Secre- 
taries of War and of the Navy, had gone to 
Eladensburg on the day of the battle. General 
Armstrong assured Mrs. Madison before he 
left Washington that there was no danger. 
Unwilling to quit her post until her husband's 
return, anxious for his safety, perhaps still 
more anxious to silence hostile tongues, this 
heroic w^oman saw one official after another 
leave Washington ; but not until a messenger 
from Mr. Madison arrived, crying " Clear out ! 
clear out ! General Armstrong has ordered a 
retreat," did Mrs. Madison prepare to leave 
the White House. In the hurry and confusion 
of this departure, she had the courage and 
presence of mind to secure the Stuart portrait 
of General Washington, which hung upon the 
dining-room wall. As it could not be easily 
unscrew^ed from the wall, Mrs. Madison di- 
rected the doorkeeper and the gardener of the 
W^hite House to break the frame with an axe. 
The canvas was thus removed, without injury 
to the portrait, and conveyed to a place of 
safety in Georgetown. Whatever may have 
been said of Mr. Madison's timidity in the 
face of -war, nothing derogatory to the courage 
and spirit of Mrs. Madison could have been 
said VN^ith any shadow of truth. Many were 
the quips and quirks then freely circulated 
about the President, among them the follow- 
ing couplet attributed to an American Scott : 

"Fly Monroe, fly! Run Armstrong, run 1 
Were the last words of Madison." 

205 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

"When the President and Mrs. Madison re- 
turned to the capital, which had been shorn 
of its glory by the vandalism of General Ross 
and Admiral Cockburn, they rented a house at 
the corner of New York Avenue and Eigh- 
teenth Street, called the " Octagon House." 
In this mansion, which had been built by 
Colonel John Tayloe, of Mount Airy, Virginia, 
the Treaty of Ghent w^as signed, which ended 
the second war w^ith Great Britain. 

The reception given by the President and 
Mrs. Madison after the signing of the Treaty of 
Ghent, is described by residents of the capital 
as the most brilliant ever held in Washington. 
Mrs. Madison, rejoicing in the assurance of 
peace and of the restored popularity of her 
husband, received her guests with smiles, and 
as she passed from group to group radiated an 
atmosphere of happiness and good-will. 

"The Justices of the Supreme Court were 
present in their gowns," says a contemporary, 
" at the head of whom was Chief Justice Mar- 
shall. The Peace Commissioners to Ghent 
— Gallatin, Bayard, Clay and Russell — were 
in the company. Mr. Adams alone was ab- 
sent. The levee was additionally brilliant — 
the heroes of the war of 1812, Major-Generals 
Brown, Gaines, Scott, and Ripley, with their 
aides, all in full dress, forming an attractive 
feature. The return of peace had restored the 
kindest feeling at home and abroad. . . . 

"The most notable feature of the evening 
was the magnificent display of the Diplomatic 

206 




Mrs. James H. Callander 
Page 198 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Corps, prominent in which was Sir Charles 
Bagot, special ambassador from our late en- 
emy, Great Britain. It was on this occasion 
that Mr. Bagot made the remark, that Mrs. 
Madison 'looked every inch a queen.' " 

Mrs. James M. Mason, who went to Wash- 
ington as a bride during President Monroe's 
administration, wrote many letters to her 
mother, Mrs. Benjamin Chew, and to her sister 
in Philadelphia, describing the pleasures and 
gayeties of the capital. In one of her letters 
Mrs. Mason speaks of the great difficulty in 
returning visits as the houses, even at this 
time, were so far apart. 

The marriage of the President's daughter, 
Miss Maria Monroe, was, she says, the ab- 
sorbing topic of interest in the gay world. Of 
this approaching festivity. Miss Ann Elbertina 
Van Ness wrote to Miss Ann Chew: "I sup- 
pose the news of our old school-mate's en- 
gagement has reached you, long since ; The 
ninth of this month is the day fixed on for 
the wedding. I can scarcely realize it; to think 
that last winter, we were at school together, 
and now she is about to become Mrs. Gouv- 
erneur. ... I have laughed at little Rias (as 
we used to call her) more than once about it." 

Mrs. Seaton speaks in one of her letters of 
Mrs. Gouverneur, the bride, receiving in her 
mother's place at the drawing-room follo^ving 
the wedding, while "Mrs. Monroe mingled 
with other citizens. The bridal festivities," 
she adds, "have received a check which will 
207 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

prevent any further attentions to the Presi- 
dent's family, in the murder of Decatur! The 
first ball, which we attended, consequent on 
the w^edding was given by the Decaturs. Invi- 
tations were out from Van Ness, Commodore 
Porter, &c, all of w^hich w^ere remanded on so 
fatal a catastrophe to a man identified with 
the success of the country in the late war." 
In one of her letters, Mrs. Mason gives a 
pleasant picture of Mrs. Madison as she ap- 
peared in later years. After her husband's 
death, Mrs. Madison returned to Washington, 
and was at this time living in the house at 
the corner of H Street and Madison Place, 
which is still pointed out to visitors as the 
Dolly Madison house. " Yesterday I posi- 
tively determined to go back to Clermont," 
wrote Mrs. Mason, " yet again I was over- 
ruled and carried to the Capitol to see Mrs. 
Madison and other great folks. . . . Tell papa, 
Mrs. Madison inquired very especially for him 
and desired me to reciprocate his remem- 
brances, she was quite eloquent when she 
described his elegant appearance and man- 
ners. She is a very charming old lady and 
quite captivated me by her encomiums of my 
Father and of my Husband." 

In one of Mr. Mason's letters to Miss Chew 
he says, " Mrs. Madison is a particular pet 
being only four score years." Men and women 
still living in W^ashington, recall Mrs. Madison 
as she appeared in her old age, still wearing 
her turban with a grace and dignity all her own, 
208 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

still extending a charming and cordial welcome 
to all who gathered around her. She was al- 
ways, says one who remembers seeing her at 
Mr. Webster's house on H Street, the centre 
of attraction in whatever circle she appeared. 
The years when Mrs. Madison held sway in 
the society of the capital will ever be looked 
upon as the golden age of Washington society. 
The city was still small enough for all the 
great folk to be gathered together in one draw- 
ing-room, when Mrs. Madison, in the White 
House or in her more modest home on H 
Street, drew around her all distinguished per- 
sons who visited the capital. Having been 
a bride during the second administration of 
Washington, and familiar with the generals of 
the Revolution, Mrs. Madison lived until after 
the inauguration of President Polk, and wel- 
comed to her home the heroes of the War of 
1812 and of the Mexican War. 



14 209 




CHAPTER VI. AN EARLY ART CEN- 
TRE 

HEN music, and the fine arts come 
to prosper at Philadelphia ; when 
society once becomes easy and 
gay there, and they learn to accept of pleas- 
ure Avhen it presents itself, without a formal 
invitation, then may foreigners enjoy all the 
advantages peculiar to their manners and gov- 
ernment, v^ithout envying anything in Eu- 
rope." So wrote the Marquis de Chastellux 
of the Quaker City during the Revolution. 

Whatever may be said of music, art came 
early to Philadelphia, and this despite the 
Quaker element in the community, which 
was, to some extent, opposed to the fine arts. 
That all Friends did not disapprove of portrait 
painting is evident from the numerous por- 
traits which have been handed down to this 
generation in the families of the Morrises, 
Fishers, Emlens, How^ells, Rawles, Pember- 
tons, and many leading Friends. Others were 
conscientiously opposed to the encouragement 
of art, and in this class were Elizabeth and 
Henry Drinker, as appears from the following 
entry in Mrs. Drinker's diary : 

" A man called this afternoon to see if H. D. 
would subscribe for a portrait of David Rit- 
tenhouse. I told him that my husband was 

2Z0 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

abroad, and if at home, I believed it would 
not suit, as he was one that did not deal in 
pictures. He said that several genteel Quakers 
had subscribed. I was desirous of saving my 
husband the trouble of refusing, or the man 
of calling again." 

As an offset to the discouragement given to 
artists by the Drinkers, and others of their way 
of thinking, generous patronage was given to 
art by a number of citizens, and many portraits 
were painted in Philadelphia in Colonial days 
by Gustavus and John Hesselius, John Wool- 
aston, Robert Feke, John Watson, Henry 
Bembridge, Matthew Pratt, Benjamin West, 
and Charles Willson Peale. Whether born in 
Philadelphia or elsewhere, all artists of note 
drifted to this city sooner or later, some to 
make their homes here, like Charles Willson 
Peale and his brother James, Thomas Sully, 
W^illiam Russel Birch, Pierre Henri,* Edward 
Miles, John Henry Bro'wn, and John Sartain. 
Others came for a stay of more or less length, 
as Stuart, Inman, Trott, Jarvis, Malbone, Free- 
man, and many native and foreign artists. 

M. Henri brought with him credentials from 
the Royal Academy of London, and appears 

* The following notice in the Pennsyhmfiia Packet proves 
that M. Henri was painting in Philadelphia in 1790 : " Mr. 
P. Henri, Miniature Painter from Paris, respectfully in- 
forms the Public that he is living in Front Street, oppo- 
site the City Vendue (the Door facing the Tree) and that 
he will do himself the honor to wait on Ladies, at their 
request." 

2ZI 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

to have painted miniatures in Richmond be- 
fore coming to Philadelphia. 

This concentration of art interest in Phila- 
delphia for some years, was doubtless due to 
the great patronage given to artists, especially 
to portrait painters, during the early sessions 
of Congress and later, when Philadelphia was 
the seat of government. Men and women 
were draw^n to this city from all parts of the 
country. Many of the statesmen and warriors 
of the Revolution had their portraits painted 
while in Philadelphia, as well as those of their 
wives and daughters. 

In consequence of the early encouragement 
given to native artists by Mr. William Hamil- 
ton, Mr. Joseph Shippen, Mr. Thomas Hopkin- 
son, Chief-Justice Allen, and by many other 
citizens of Philadelphia, an Academy of the 
Fine Arts was formed in Philadelphia early 
in the next century. The plan for this Art 
Society, as it was first called, was formulated 
in the studio of Rembrandt Peale, at the State 
House.* The committee appointed to secure a 
building for the art studies and exhibitions of 
the Academy was composed of George Clymer, 
William Poyntell, John Redman Coxe, William 
Rush, and John Dorsey. The only artist on 
the committee was William Rush, who pos- 
sessed great ability as a sculptor and carver in 
w^ood, as is proved by his noble figure of Gen- 

* The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, formed 
in 1805, was the outgrowth of Charles W. Peak's effort to 
organize an art school in Philadelphia as early as 1791. 
212 



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eral Washington, now in Independence Hall, 
Philadelphia. 

Charles Willson Peale was painting in Phila- 
delphia as early as 1772. One of his best por- 
traits is of Judge William Barton. Mr. Peale 
also painted a portrait of Mrs. William Barton. 
This picture of Mrs. Barton (Elizabeth Rhea) 
represents the young mother with one of her 
little daughters, Betsy Barton, in her arms. 

The miniatures of Charles Willson Peale 
and his brother James are not so readily 
authenticated as their portraits, but every 
year more and more of James Peale's minia- 
tures are being discovered. With a powerful 
magnifying glass, the initials J. P. may be dis- 
cerned upon the background of many a minia- 
ture vs^hose owners have relegated it to the 
region of the unknown in art. In delicacy and 
grace of treatment, and in exquisiteness of 
finish, James Peale is only excelled by Mal- 
bone, while in strength and individuality of 
expression he sometimes surpasses the Rhode 
Island artist. Among interesting miniatures 
by James Peale, which have recently come to 
light, are those of Dr. John Bullus, whose por- 
trait was also painted by Gilbert Stuart, and 
tw^o very fine miniatures of Tench Francis and 
of Mr. William Sergeant, a son of Jonathan 
Dickinson Sergeant. A miniature of Charles 
Hall, a prominent Pennsylvania lawyer, who 
began his legal career in Sunbury, Northum- 
berland County, bears some marks of James 
Peale's style, while another unsigned and very 
213 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

beautiful miniature of Mr. Hall, painted some 
years earlier, is so fine and delicate in treat- 
ment and color as to suggest the hand of a 
French artist. Mr. Hall was how^ever never 
abroad, having been born and having spent his 
early years at his father's place. Mount Wel- 
come, Cecil County, Maryland. He married 
Miss Elizabeth Coleman, and after his mar- 
riage lived in Sunbury, in the active practice 
of his profession. If Mr. Charles Hall's min- 
iature was the work of a foreign hand, it must 
have been painted by one of the French or 
English artists who were in America in the 
latter years of the century. The miniature 
v/as probably painted about 1796, the time of 
Mr. Hall's marriage to Miss Coleman. 

Another interesting unsigned miniature, 
painted in Philadelphia about 1778, is that of 
Mrs. Jonathan Dickinson Sergeant, which may 
have been the work of the elder Peale, as it 
was too early for the best w^ork of his brother 
James. This miniature, if executed by Charles 
Willson Peale, is an example of the artist at 
his very best, as it excels his other minia- 
tures, although it bears some general resem- 
blance to a well-authenticated miniature by 
him of Mrs. James Montgomery, and to one of 
his daughter, Angelica Peale, afterwards Mrs. 
Alexander Robinson, of Baltimore. Mrs. Ser- 
geant was a daughter of the Reverend Elihu 
Spencer, of New Jersey, and the wife of the 
able and patriotic New Jersey lawyer, Jona- 
than Dickinson Sergeant. Mr. Sergeant was 
214 




Mrs. Jonathan Dickinson Sergeant 




Mrs. Ale.xander Robinson 
By Charles Willson Peale 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

a member of the Continental Congress, rep- 
resenting New Jersey, and was afterwards 
Attorney-General for Pennsylvania. While at- 
tending the sessions of Congress, in 1776, Mr. 
Sergeant w^as obliged to leave his wife and 
infant son at Princeton. Upon the approach 
of the British, Mr. Spencer being obnoxious to 
the enemy in consequence of his well-known 
patriotism, a message was sent by General 
Mercer to warn him of his danger, while Dr. 
Bainbridge, of Princeton, aroused Mrs. Ser- 
geant, and insisted upon her starting at once 
with her sister and child to McConkey's 
Ferry, on the Delaware, where her husband 
had arranged to meet her in case she should 
be obliged to leave Princeton. Mrs. Sergeant 
was afterwards joined by her father, Mr. Spen- 
cer, at McConkey's Ferry. Here the family 
party had a joyful reunion, and spent the night 
in a little hut, under the protection of a com- 
pany of American soldiers on their way to join 
General Washington.* 

William Russell Birch, who is known to-day 
chiefly through his very fine portraits of Gen- 
eral Washington, and his views of houses and 
country-seats in and around Ne^v York, Phila- 
delphia, Washington, and other cities, was a 

* Mrs. Sergeant died in June, 1787, and Mr. Sergeant 
married, in December, 1788, Elizabeth Rittenhouse, a 
daughter of David Rittenhouse, the astronomer. The first 
Mrs. Sergeant was the mother of the Honorable John Ser- 
geant, who, like his father, was a distinguished lawyer and 
public-spirited citizen. 

215 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

very remarkable workman in enamel. This 
artist's work is unique ; his method of putting 
on the enamel being an invention of his own, 
the result of much painstaking labor and many 
experiments. " Enamel painting," he said, 
"is the unique Art of heightening and pre- 
serving the beauty of tints to futurity, as given 
in the Works of the most celebrated Masters 
of Painting, without a possibility of their 
changing : the colours are made of metallic 
substances, metals and minerals, soluted, cal- 
cined, and composed with glassy substances, 
commonly called Flux, and when layed on 
bodies of their own kind and placed in a strong 
heat, will melt in one with them, and become 
permanent." 

Mr. Birch prepared his plates and made his 
own colors. In the course of his work, he dis- 
covered that by laying a thin coat of yellow 
enamel on the metal plate before putting on 
the last coat of white, he secured a warm tint 
not to be obtained in any other way. In his 
diary, or recollections, he says that after ex- 
perimenting for a month, he was particularly 
fortunate in producing in enamel a Vandyke 
brown, which Sir Joshua Reynolds was fond 
of using. For several years Mr. Birch was 
engaged in copying Sir Joshua's famous por- 
traits, at the artist's own request, as he seems 
to have feared what afterwards came to pass, 
that his colors, exquisite as they w^ere, would 
not stand the test of time. Among portraits 
copied in enamel by Mr. Birch were those of 

216 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

the Duke of Devonshire, the Honorable Mrs. 
Stanhope, Mrs. Robertson, a portrait of Sir 
Joshua himself, one of the Marquis of Rock- 
ingham, and of Lord Spencer. Of the Earl of 
Mansfield, Lord Chief-Justice of the King's 
Bench, a patron of the artist, he made numer- 
ous copies in enamel from paintings by Sir 
Joshua Reynolds. Like a true-born son of 
Britain, William Birch took great pride in re- 
ferring to the generous patronage of his work 
by the English nobility and aristocracy, and 
the friendly relations that existed between 
himself and the Earl of Mansfield, Mr. Chaun- 
cey, and Sir Joshua Reynolds. 

In Mr. Birch's recollections, written for the 
benefit of his family, he quaintly tells of his 
success in inducing the Earl of Mansfield to 
sit to Sir Joshua for his portrait. " I w^as," he 
says, " first engaged in his [Lord Mansfield's] 
patronage in copying Mr. Copley's Picture 
from the Death of Chatham or a picture so 
nearly resembling one from it that I could not 
endure the idea of handing down to Posterity 
anything like second-hand a Characature not 
short of the first of the Age, and finding there 
were so many wanting of this Picture, or 
portrait, I took the following opportunity of 
speaking my mind. Sitting at tea one even- 
ing with his Lordship and the Ladies, * Well 
Birch,' said he, 'there is another picture to 
Paint.' ' What my Lord from Mr. Copley's 
Picture,' I replied, • it appears to me too much 
like a copy from another Picture, to hand 

217 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

down your Lordship to posterity. I cannot 
copy it my Lord.' • What would you paint 
from,' he replied. ' I cannot help thinking that 
in an age like this where two so great men 
have met as your Lordship and Sir Jos'a that 
it is your Lordship's duty to your friends and 
the public to sit to Sir Josh'a Reynolds.' He 
paused a while and came up to me, * Birch,' 
said he, * the Archbishop of York has for these 
ten years past been soliciting me to sit to Sir 
Jos'a but I have always refused, but you shall 
go to Sir Joshua tom.orrow and tell him I 
will sit to him whenever he will appoint me.' 
Having thus succeeded in getting a fine picture 
by my own Master to copy I set down with 
pleasure to the orders, as from the first of the 
list, the picture being painted and much ap- 
proved, his Lordship said to me, * what is to 
be done with the Archbishop of York.' ' A 
copy of the picture, my Lord, should be or- 
dered of Sir Joshua for his Grace.' ' Then you 
go and order it,' he replied." 

Mr. Birch was in England at the time of the 
death of Sir Joshua Reynolds, of whom he 
speaks as his departed friend and master, and 
relates with great pride the fact that Mr. "West, 
— Benjamin West, — who had the arrangement 
of the procession, said to him upon this occa- 
sion, "I know your standing with Sir Joshua, 
and as you are not a regular member of the 
Academy, I have ordered a black coach for 
you to join with the family." Soon after this 
Judge Samuel Chase, of Maryland, was in 

218 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

London. Mr. Birch says that Judge Chase 
was connected with him by marriage, and 
that he saw him often and had many conver- 
sations with him.* Judge Chase strongly ad- 
vised the artist to go to America, which he 
decided to do, taking his wife and children 
with him. The only letter of introduction 
that Mr. Birch carried with him was from 
Benjamin West, then President of the Royal 
Academy, to Mr. W^illiam Bingham, in Phila- 
delphia. 

" Mr. Bingham was my first employer in 
America," says Mr. Birch, " to instruct his 
t\vo daughters in Drawing at his own house at- 
tended with one of their friends, three scholars 
twice a week, at half a Guinea per lesson each. 
I then built me a furnace. Painted a full size 
picture in Enamel of Mr. Bingham and a 
smaller one from it for Miss Bingham, who 
afterwards married Sir Francis Baring. Find- 
ing orders for portraits came in fluently, I gave 
up my scholars." 

Mr. Birch had been quite successful in en- 
graving heads and landscapes while in Eng- 
land, and now, under the patronage of a number 
of influential citizens, he set about making his 
celebrated " Views of the City of Philadelphia 
in 1800." He says that in making these draw- 
ings he was assisted by his son, and by Mr. 

* Judge Chase was sent to England by the Maryland 
Legislature in 1783, to secure money that had been invested 
in the Bank of England before the War of the Revolution. 
219 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Seymour in the work of engraving. In addi- 
tion to his " Views " of places in and around 
Philadelphia, Birch made engravings of a 
number of country-seats in Maryland, Vir- 
ginia, New York, and in other States; among 
them is one of Mount Vernon, then the resi- 
dence of Judge Bushrod Washington. Ac- 
cording to the artist's ov/n list, he made 
engravings of " Hoboken in New Jersey the 
seat of Mr. John Stevens ; Montobello the 
seat of General S. Smith of Maryland & the 
seat of Mr. Duplantier, near New^ Orleans." 
Among these " Views" is an engraving, which 
the artist speaks of as "York Island, w^ith a 
view of the seats of Mr. A. Gracie, Mr. Church, 
etc." Some of these pictures are in water- 
colors, as that of Point Breeze, the residence 
of Joseph Bonaparte, and that of General Ma- 
son's seat, on Analostan Island in the Potomac 
River, with a wing of his house at George- 
town, and of that of Mr. Custis in the distance. 
In and about Philadelphia Mr. Birch made 
engravings and water-colors of " Belmont," 
" Lansdowne," "Woodlands," "Echo," the 
seat of Mr. Beveridge, " Fairy Hill," which 
the artist speaks of as the residence of M. de 
la Roche and family,* and many other places 
on or near the Schuylkill. Mr. Birch also 
made engravings of a number of country-seats 

* " Fairy Hill " was in quite a different direction from 
Fairhill, the seat of Isaac Norris, which was burned by 
the British. 

220 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

on the Delaware. Of one of these seats, 
"China Hall," which was near his own place, 
"Springland," he has left a quaint and in- 
teresting description. This handsome and 
unique country-seat, built by Mr. Van Braam, 
United States Minister from Holland, was 
situated on the Delaw^are near the mouth of 
the Neshaminy Creek. Mr. Van Braam, who 
had spent many years among the Chinese, im- 
ported many beautiful and curious articles for 
the furnishing and adornment of " China Hall," 
and Mr. Birch speaks of his long boat manned 
by eight Chinese oarsmen, dressed in white, 
as a picturesque feature in the landscape. 

Gilbert Stuart returned to America in 1794, 
and came to Philadelphia with a letter of in- 
troduction to President Washington from Mr. 
John Jay, his highest ambition in life being 
to paint a satisfactory portrait of the great 
soldier and statesman for whom he cherished 
so ardent an admiration. Mr. Birch gives an 
ingenuous account of his relations with the 
artist and of his first interview with General 
Washington : " When he [General Washing- 
ton] was sitting to Stuart, he told him he had 
heard there was another Artist of merit from 
London, naming myself, that he \vould sit to 
me if I chose. Mr. Stuart brought me the 
message. I thanked Mr. Stuart, and told him 
that as he had painted his picture, it would be 
a mark of the highest imposition to trouble 
the Gen'l to sit to me, but that when I had 
copied his Picture of him in Enamel, which 
221 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

was my forte, that I would show it to the Gen., 
and thank him for his kind offer, which when I 
had done, I waited upon the Gen'l with a note. 



" When I saw the Gen'l I put the picture 
into his hand, he looked at it steadfastly, but 
from a peculiarity of solid habit in his manner, 
left me to look at him as solid, till feeling my- 
self awkward, I begun the history of Enamel 
Painting, which by the time I got through, 
he complimented me upon the beauty of my 
work. I then told him how much we was 
beholding to Mr. Stuart for the correctness of 
his likeness. 

"The annecdote of what Mr, Stuart calls 
his Mount Vernon Head, is worthy of obser- 
vation, it happened in the first picture, near 
its finish, when Mr. Stuart turned his Head to 
replenish his pallett, the Gen'l, knowing him 
to be a wit, took out his set of Ivory teeth, the 
painter on the turn of his head, struck with 
the additional dignity of Countenance, told the 
President, in a tone of tranquil ease, that he 
had been his subject long, w^ith pleasure, but 
know Sir, now you are my subject, and must 
to my pencil another tribute pay. A fresh 
picture was agreed upon, without the teeth, 
which is the one generally know^n. The first 
he called the Mount Vernon Head; I copied 
one enamel from it, which was purchased by 
Mr. McHenry." 

Mr. Birch says that he also made a copy in 

222 




Mrs. Barnes 
By William Russell Birch 



1 






SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

enamel of the full-length portrait painted by 
Stuart for the Marquess of Lansdowne, and 
numerous other copies from the works of this 
artist, amounting to sixty in all. 

The enamels of General Washington by 
Birch, and the examples of his work in heads 
and in miniature groups and landscapes in the 
collections of the Academy of the Fine Arts, 
in Philadelphia, and in possession of members 
of the artist's family, are so fine that it is 
to be regretted that more of these enamels 
cannot be located. Mr. Birch made several 
miniatures in enamel of Mr. Jaudenes, Span- 
ish Minister to the United States, one of 
vk^hich w^as surrounded with diamonds and 
made into a locket for Mrs. Jaudenes. These 
miniatures of course left the country with the 
Jaudenes.* One of the most charming ex- 
amples of Mr. Birch's work is a miniature of 
his daughter Priscilla, who afterwards married 
Mr. Barnes. In this portrait the artist has, 
with great skill and delicacy of treatment, re- 
produced a lace veil that is thrown over the 
head and falls down upon the forehead almost 



* Mrs. Gushing, the wife of Judge Gushing, of the Su- 
preme Gourt, wrote from Philadelphia in 1795 that she and 
her husband had just dined with the President and Mrs. 
Washington, in company with Don ]os6 de Jaudenes, the 
Spanish Minister and his Lady, the Ghevalier and Mrs. 
Frere, Mr. and Mrs. Van Berckel, and a number of cabinet 
officers with their wives. Madame Frere, the Portuguese 
Minister's wife, and Madame Jaudenes were, Mrs. Gush- 
ing says, "brilliant with diamonds." 
223 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

covering the eyes, and yet not concealing their 
beauty. Another miniature, of a young girl 
asleep, is very fine in its transparency of color 
and in the beauty of the flesh-tints. 

Mrs. Judge Cushing, in speaking of Gilbert 
Stuart's arrival in Philadelphia, calls him " an 
extraordinary limner said to exceed by far any 
other in America." 

Stuart soon became the fashion, in conse- 
quence of his great ability, and the distin- 
guished patronage which came to him through 
the letters that he brought to General Wash- 
ington and other prominent men. Although 
an eccentric individual, Stuart was possessed 
of a vast fund of information and was an 
inimitable raco7iteur. His studio, on Chestnut 
Street above Fifth, soon became more of a 
salon than a workroom, as visitors flocked in 
at all hours to see the great artist at work and 
to enjoy his brilliant conversation and clever 
tales. This circumstance, says Miss Jane 
Stuart, the artist's daughter, led Mr. Stuart 
to remove to Germantown, w^here he estab- 
lished himself in an old mansion near the Main 
Street, transforming the barn into a studio.* 

* The house in which Stuart lived was afterwards bought 
from Samuel Ashmead by the late Mr. William Wynne 
Wister, whose daughters still (1899) occupy the house. The 
old barn, in the rear of 5140 Main Street, in which Stuart 
painted.was standing in the summer of 1898, and near it the 
famous apple-tree, then in " the sear and yellow^ leaf," from 
which, said Mr. Ashmead, General Washington was in the 
habit of regaling himself when he walked in the garden. 
224 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

This suburban painting-room soon became 
as popular as his Chestnut Street studio, as 
Miss Stuart says that, "while the General and 
Mrs. Washington were sitting for their por- 
traits, it was the resort of many of the most 
distinguished and interesting persons of the 
day. Nellie Custis, Mrs. Law, and Miss Har- 
riet Chew (afterwards Mrs. Carroll), gene- 
rally accompanied Mrs. "Washington. General 
Knox, General Henry Lee, and others came 
with the President. The British Minister and 
his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Liston, Louis Philippe 
D'Orleans, Counsellor Dunn (an Irish bar- 
rister), and the Viscount de Noailles were 
particularly fond of Stuart's society and were 
daily visitors." 

General Washington was very fond of the 
daughters of his friend, Mr. Benjamin Chew, 
and is said to have gallantly requested Miss 
Harriet to accompany him to the sittings, 
as her conversation would give his face its 
most agreeable expression. W^ith Miss Har- 
riet Chew often came her sisters, Mrs. Philip 
Nicklin, Juliana Chev/, and Mrs. John Eager 
Howard, — Peggy Chew, — who was living in 
Philadelphia in 1796, while General Howard 
was attending the sessions of Congress as 
Senator from Maryland. Another of the Chew 
sisters, who was married about this time to 
Mr. Henry Philips, was Sophia Chew. Minia- 
tures of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Philips were later 
painted by Richard Cosway. 

Miss Stuart states that the celebrated Athe- 
15 225 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

naeum portrait of General Washington was 
painted in the Germantown studio, and there 
seems to be no reason to doubt this state- 
ment, as this studio was within pleasant driv- 
ing distance of the President's Philadelphia 
residence. This beautiful portrait, w^hich w^as 
painted for Mrs. Washington at her request, 
was never finished, nor w^as her own portrait, 
which was intended to accompany it. To this 
fact may be attributed some of the delicacy 
and charm of these portraits, for Stuart was 
too true an artist to risk the chance of mar- 
ring by an additional stroke what was already 
beautiful and expressive. 

The Washington portrait Stuart kept in his 
Germantown studio, calling it his hundred 
dollar bill, as he took many orders for replicas 
from it, and delaying the delivery of it to its 
owner until the General's patience was ex- 
hausted. One writer says that Mrs. Washing- 
ton became quite angry with the artist for not 
allowing her to have her husband's portrait, 
and did not hesitate to express herself upon 
the subject. 

Stuart painted charming portraits of Miss 
Harriet Chew, who afterwards married Charles 
Carroll, the son of Charles Carroll, the Signer, 
of the Marchioness d'Yrujo, of Sarah Shippen, 
and of many other Philadelphia beauties. 

No artist who came to Philadelphia re- 
ceived more generous appreciation and patron- 
age than Thomas Sully. Here he made his 
home and brought up his family of children, 
226 



/ 




Mrs. Charles Iren6e du Pont 
By Thomas Sully 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

some of whom inherited a share of their 
father's artistic ability. Among Mr. Sully's 
best Philadelphia portraits are those of Mr. 
and Mrs. Nicholas Biddle, Mrs. Richard Wor- 
sam Meade, and Fanny Kemble, afterwards 
Mrs. Pierce Butler. 

Mr. Sully painted a very attractive portrait 
of Mrs. Charles Irenee du Pont soon after her 
marriage. Mrs. du Pont w^as a daughter of 
Senator Van Dyke, of New Castle, Delaw^are. 
The marriage of Miss Dorcas Montgomery 
Van Dyke and Mr. Charles Iren6e du Pont* 
was solemnized at her father's house in New 
Castle, in October, 1824, while the Marquis de 
Lafayette was in America. This nobleman, 
being an old friend of the groom's father, Mr. 
Victor du Pont, was present at the wedding, 
which was one of the most important social 
events that the old town of New Castle had 
ever witnessed. " Upon this occasion," says 
one who described the wedding, "Senator 
Van Dyke allowed the doors and windows 
to stand open so that the crowd about the 
mansion could see General Lafayette and the 
ceremony. The chair occupied by Lafayette 
was slightly elevated over all the others in 
the room and festooned with flowers. After 
the ceremony Lafayette, of course, kissed the 
Bride." 



* Mrs. du Pont died in 1858, and Mr. du Pont married 
Miss Ann Ridgely, a daughter of Henry M. Ridgely, of 
Dover, Delaware. 

227 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Malbone was in Philadelphia for a short 
time, and here painted miniatures of Colonel 
and Mrs. Clement Biddle, of their son-in-law, 
General Thomas Cadwalader, and of the beau- 
tiful Gratz sisters, Rebecca and Rachel. The 
greater part of Malbone's work was done in 
Newport and in Charleston, South Carolina. 
One of the most charming of his miniatures is 
that of Isabel Barron, of Charleston, painted 
in 1806. A little story has come down with 
the picture, which says that the artist fell in 
love with his beautiful sitter, and that when 
this circumstance transpired her father put a 
stop to all further painting. This tradition 
seems to be carried out by the miniature, as 
some of the details are not finished, the deli- 
cate lace around the lovely throat being in 
some places merely outlined, while in others 
it is filled in w^ith great care. Another interest- 
ing miniature of a South Carolina girl is that 
of Mrs. Langdon Cheves, a daughter of Mr. 
Joseph Dulles and his wife, Sophia Heatl^y, 
of Charleston. Mrs. Cheves spent much of 
her married life in the North, as Judge Cheves 
was a prominent figure in political life, and 
was obliged to be much of the time in Wash- 
ington and in Philadelphia. Judge Cheves was 
a colleague of Mr. Calhoun in Congress during 
the War of 1812, and w^as for a time Speaker 
of the House of Representatives. His busi- 
ness and administrative abilities -were highly 
thought of, and w^hen the affairs of the Bank 
of the United States were involved in serious 
228 




Mrs. Langdoii Cheves 
By Edward Greene Malbone 




Isabel Barron 
By Edward Greene Malbone 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

difficulties, he was urged to remove to Phila- 
delphia and accept the presidency of the bank, 
which he did. It was at this time that Mr. 
and Mrs. Cheves spent their summers in Lan- 
caster, Pennsylvania, where they owned a 
handsome country-seat near that of the Hon- 
orable James Buchanan, afterwards President 
of the United States. Mr. Buchanan, who 
entertained a warm admiration for the beauty 
and grace of Mrs. Cheves, was fond of rela- 
ting a pleasant story of her as she appeared at 
her own dinner-table. Mrs. Cheves, charm- 
ingly attired, was one day entertaining some 
distinguished guests, when the waiter, in 
passing around the soup-tureen, after the 
good old style before dinners a la Russe were 
in vogue, awkwardly overturned the contents 
upon the delicate brocade gow^n of the hostess. 
Mr. Buchanan said that not only did Mrs. 
Cheves utter no expression of surprise or 
anger, but without a word upon the subject 
she continued the conversation in which she 
was engaged. This lovely lady was not only 
sw^eet-tempered and self-controlled, but highly 
cultivated and possessed of some artistic abil- 
ity. A miniature of Colonel William Rhett, 
copied by her from the original which was 
painted by a distinguished artist, is still in 
possession of the family.* While in Philadel- 

* Colonel William Rhett was, in 1702, appointed by Gov- 
ernor Nathaniel Johnson commander of the land and naval 
forces of Carolina. Colonel Rhett, says his biographer, 
229 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

phia Mr. and Mrs. Langdon Cheves lived on 
Locust Street, at the corner of Washington 
Square, in a house which has been owned for 
many years by Dr. Horace Howard Furness, 
the great Shakespearian scholar and commen- 
tator. 

Among miniatures painted by Malbone much 
earlier than that of Mrs. Langdon Cheves, 
are those of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Dana, of 
Boston, a handsome couple, in the becoming 
and picturesque costume of the time. Looking 



" proved himself by his dauntless courage, regulated by 
perfect coolness, -worthy of the post. In due time the tall 
masts of a French frigate, in company with three ships and 
a galley, appeared above the low, white sand ridge of Morris 
Island. A courier w^as immediately sent to Col. Johnson, 
who the next day, very much to the satisfaction of the in- 
habitants, rode into town. He forthwith called a council 
of war, the minutes of w^hich read like some old English 
burgher's meeting, during the reign of Elizabeth, for it w^as 
quickly agreed to put some great guns on board of such 
ships as were in the harbor, and employ the sailors in their 
own way in defense of the town. Of this fleet Col. Rhett, 
who although commanding the militia of the colony, seems 
to have been quite as good a sailor as soldier, was made 
' vice-admiral.' Col. Rhett whose gallantry contributed so 
materially to the defeat of the Franco-Spanish fleet, lived 
long after the death of Col. Johnson. The risk of no enter- 
prise seemed too great for his dauntless spirit. Among the 
many services which he rendered the colony was one w^hich 
eclipsed all others, for desperate bravery, his capture of 
Steve Bonnes, the famous pirate. The worth of Col. Rhett 
at length attracted the attention of the home government, 
and he was appointed Governor of the Bahama Islands, 
but he died before the commission reached him." 

230 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

at Mr. Dana's refined face, with its delicate 
and finely-modelled features, we can under- 
stand Mrs. John Adams's warm admiration 
of the beauty of members of the Dana family 
whom she met abroad. Whether or not she 
was nearly related to Richard Dana, the Miss 
Dana whom Mrs. Adams saw in London 
was a niece of Francis Dana, United States 
Minister to Russia. This young lady, whom 
Mrs. Adams likened to "Calypso among her 
nymphs, delicate and modest," had, she 
added, "the best title of any Englishwoman 
I have seen to the rank of a divinity. I would 
not have it forgotten that her father is an 
American, and, as he \vas remarkably hand- 
some, no doubt she owes a large share of her 
beauty to him." 

Robert Field, an English miniature painter, 
was in America in 1795 and 1796, and like all 
other artists who came to the Republic, 
painted a miniature of General Washington. 
Mr. Twining speaks of dining with Mr. Field 
at the St. George's Society, in Philadelphia, 
and of giving him a partial promise to sit to 
him for his miniature. To Mr. Field may be 
attributed some of the unsigned miniatures 
to be found in Philadelphia and other cities, 
although some of them were doubtless painted 
by another English miniature painter by the 
name of Browne, whose name has naturally 
been confused with that of the well-known 
American artist, John Henry Brown. The 
English artist, Browne, painted very remark- 
231 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

able miniatures of Mrs. Willing Francis and 
of Mr. and Mrs. John C. Montgomery. 

Another foreign artist, who came to Phila- 
delphia in the first quarter of the century, 
was Francis Martin Drexel, whose fame as 
a painter has been entirely overshadowed by 
his great success as an American banker. This 
young man, the son of an officer in the Aus- 
trian army, studied in Rome before he came 
to try his fortune in the New World. He 
brought letters to Joseph Bonaparte, then 
living at Bordentov^^n, New Jersey, who proved 
to be a kind friend to the artist. Mr. Drexel 
seems to have possessed considerable ability 
as an artist and painted in various lines ; like 
most impecunious young painters, accepting 
whatever orders came to him. An altar-piece 
was executed by him for the Roman Catholic 
Church of Saint Peter's, in Reading, Pennsyl- 
vania. This painting represented the Cruci- 
fixion and was very beautiful. Mr. Ferdi- 
nand J. Dreer, a distinguished Philadelphia 
antiquarian, distinctly recalls a famous sign 
painted by young Drexel for a lottery estab- 
lishment, at the corner of Fourth and Chest- 
nut Streets, where a fair lady, representing 
Columbia, presided over a cornucopia from 
which fell doubloons galore. Mr. Dreer says 
that this sign was painted upon canvas, and 
as he recalls it, was beautiful and artistic. 

Among portraits painted by Mr. Drexel, still 
to be seen in Philadelphia, are those of Mr. 
and Mrs. George Washington Morris, a group 
232 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

portrait of Gilbert Livingston Morris and 
Edward Berean Morris,* and miniatures of 
the artist and his wife, which are in possession 
of their daughter, Mrs. John G. Watmough. 

Mr. Pratt, w^ho knew^ Mr. Drexel well, says 
that his greatest success in painting was made 
in Bolivia, South America, where he w^ent 
about 1825. Here he painted portraits of 
General Bolivar and other leading men in the 
new Republic. The money acquired in this 
way enabled Mr. Drexel, when he returned 
to Philadelphia, to enter into the banking oper- 
ations which, in the course of a few years, 
gained for him a world-wide reputation. f 

From the dignified and imposing portraits 
that have come down to us, we have been led 
to think of our grandmothers as tall and stately 
dames, moulded upon a larger pattern than 
the women of to-day. It is only from occa- 
sional descriptions in old letters, and from the 
small size of some of the garments worn by 
these ladies of the olden time which have 
been preserved in certain families, that we 

* These family portraits are owned by Mr. Harrison S. 
Morris, of Philadelphia. 

t Mr. Dundas T. Pratt says that Mr. Drexel began to 
paint portraits of Bolivar in Philadelphia and painted them 
during the long voyage. He sold them in Bolivia at a 
doubloon apiece. On his return, he made his money on 
Pennsylvania currency when the banks of Pennsylvania 
stopped payment. He afterwards went to Germany and 
established the letter-of-credit system. Mr. Drexel had his 
office on Sixth Street, back of the Public Ledger Building. 

233 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

have had reason to form a different opinion. 
It was a rude awakening to many of us to 
learn upon good authority that Lady Wash- 
ington was of exceedingly small stature, and 
inclined to embo7ipoint in middle life, while from 
a letter written by a Philadelphia beau in 
Colonial days, it plainly appears that the 
belles of that time were not all "•' daughters of 
the gods, divinely tall." Mr. James Willing 
gave the following very ungallant reason for 
not v/ishing to go to the Philadelphia Dancing 
Assembly : " Among the principal managers," 
says the old chronicle, "are Billy Allen and 
Jemmy Willing. The Subscribers may send 
a Ticket to any Young Lady for the Evening ; 
Notwithstanding which Privilege J. Willing 
tells me that He is almost tired of it because 
the Girls are so little." 

If these Colonial and Revolutionary dames 
were not all "divinely tall," they certainly 
appear " divinely fair," and as their descend- 
ants of to-day look into the charming faces 
that have come down to them upon the can- 
vases of Stuart, Peale, and Sully, or upon the 
ivories of Trott, Eraser, and Malbone, they 
may well exclaim with the New England poet 
who lost his heart to his own great-grand- 
mother, — 

" What if a hundred years ago 
Those dose-shut lips had answered * No ' ?" 



234 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 



CHAPTER VIL MRS. RUSH AND HER 
SALON 

IT was said of the late Madame Aubernon 
de Neurville that to her Parisian sa/on, 
" the last sa/on where there was real 
talk," there came " everyone that we read or 
read of with interest." To the salon of Mrs. 
James Rush, of Philadelphia, the same epi- 
grammatic description may be applied with 
equal pertinency, the " Open, sesame !" to her 
drawing-room being talent, intellectual ability, 
and the power to charm and entertain, rather 
than great wealth or social position, although 
Mrs. Rush by no means undervalued these 
advantages. Whatever mistakes may have 
been made by her, and these were doubtless 
exaggerated, all honor is due to Mrs. Rush for 
having been one of the first women in Amer- 
ica to establish a social status in her home 
based upon higher standards, at a time when 
distinctions of a very artificial and absurd 
nature still prevailed in the society of the 
Quaker City. 

No woman had been so distinctly a leader 
in the social life of Philadelphia since the days 
of Mrs. William Bingham, and it may be said 
w^ith truth that the influence exerted by Mrs. 
Rush was far more stimulating and elevating 
than that of Mrs. Bingham, as it -was more 
intellectual. Luxury and the arts of living 
235 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

had made great strides in the years that had 
intervened since the Binghams entertained in 
their new mansion on Third Street. Although 
Colonel Maxwell, who came to this city in 
1840, described it as having about it " a gen- 
eral sombreness increased by the quantities of 
Quakeresses and weeping willows you meet 
at every turn," there is reason to believe that 
the Philadelphia of that day, as at an earlier 
time, was the centre of much genuine old-fash- 
ioned hospitality and of considerable gayety. 

It would be interesting to knov>;^ what fairy 
godmothers gathered about the cradle of little 
Phcebe Ann Ridgway and conferred upon the 
Quaker girl so strong a desire and such distinct 
ability to lead and shine in the world of let- 
ters and of society. Although born of Quaker 
parents, Miss Ridgway, afterwards Mrs. James 
Rush, w^as not reared in the severe simplicity 
of the Quaker life of old Philadelphia, as much 
of her education v^^as gained abroad. Mr. 
Jacob Ridg^vay, one of the shrewdest of old- 
time merchants, was engaged in an extensive 
shipping business as a partner in the firm of 
Smith & Ridgway. During the war between 
England and France, it being necessary for 
one of the partners of the firm of Smith & 
Ridgway to live abroad in order to protect the 
interest of the mercantile house, Mr. Ridgway 
removed to London with his family. He after- 
wards resided in Antwerp, w^here he occupied 
the position of United States consul and be- 
came a partner in an Antwerp house. 
236 




Susan and Phoebe Ann Ridgway 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

From some lines written in the diary of Dr. 
James Rush, it appears that Mrs. Rush was 
born abroad. This entry of 1842 seems as if it 
might have been made to remind the writer 
of his wife's birthday : 

"'P. A. R.' born in London at No. 46 Bish- 
opgate St., Tuesday, December 3, 1799, at half- 
past four o'clock P.M." 

In a family letter written the next year, little 
Phoebe Ann Ridgv/ay is spoken of as "a lively 
baby," which proves that her characteristic 
energy early impressed itself upon her rela- 
tives. An elder sister, Susan or Susannah 
Ridgway, was born in Philadelphia, while 
Mrs. Rush's brother, John Jacob Ridgway, 
w^as born in Paris. 

A pleasing picture of the little sisters, Susan 
and Phcsbe Ann Ridgway, was painted while 
Mr. and Mrs. Ridgway were living in Ant- 
werp. These two girlish figures in white 
muslin gow^ns are charming in their grace and 
simplicity. Phoebe's tiny red shoes peep out 
from beneath her skirt, and as Susan was not 
equipped ^vith the much-coveted red shoes, 
she was allo\ved to carry a basket of gay 
flowers, w^hile Phoebe's basket v/as empty, 
from which it appears that Mr. and Mrs. Ridg- 
way were as fair and impartial in meting out 
justice to their offspring as the fathers and 
mothers of Miss Edgeworth's " Moral Tales." 

The fact that Phcebe Ann Ridgway's early 
education and associations were foreign, seems 
to have been overlooked by many persons who 
237 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

misunderstood and misjudged her in her own 
city, a Continental education not being as usual 
in the early years of the century as it is to- 
day. Mrs. Rush early developed a taste for 
society, for the gayer side of life, for beauty, 
music, light, and color, as well as a decided 
love of letters. In her enjoyment of brilliant 
and gorgeous surroundings, she seemed to 
have revived some remote and forgotten Ori- 
ental strain in her blood, \vhile in her intelli- 
gence, her keen perceptions, and her frankness 
she was all Anglo-Saxon. 

Dr. James Rush has sometimes been spoken 
of as a recluse and a morose and gloomy man. 
This may have been the case after the death 
of his wife ; but from all that can be gathered 
from those who knew the Rushes in their 
own home, theirs was a happy married life. 
Although widely different in character and 
tastes, they possessed certain meeting grounds 
in their love of study and improvement and 
in their delight in the society of intellectual 
men. Dr. Rush was a son of the more distin- 
guished Dr. Benjamin Rush, and a brother of 
the Honorable Richard Rush, who represented 
his country in England and France. Having 
enjoyed exceptional educational advantages at 
home and abroad. Dr. Rush was all his life a 
student and a lover and collector of books and 
of information upon a great variety of sub- 
jects. In addition to being engaged in the 
active practice of his profession, he made a 
particular study of the voice and the vocal 

238 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

organs, and wrote extensively upon these 
subjects. He did not, however, confine his 
studies to this one branch of learning, as is 
proved by his note-books and diaries. The 
note-books, especially those kept while travel- 
ling abroad, afford an interesting example of 
the power for the accretion of a variety of facts 
possessed by one individual. These books 
abound in details regarding life, places, and 
persons in Spain, Holland, Denmark, and 
Russia, the capital of w^hich latter country 
Dr. Rush visited during the stirring days that 
followed the assassination of the Emperor 
Paul and the accession of his son Alexander. 

Although content to spend his leisure hours 
among his books. Dr. Rush heartily encour- 
aged his wife in her desire to make their home 
a social as well as an intellectual centre. 
When learned men from abroad sought his 
society in his study, he was proud to feel 
that he could offer them the attractions of his 
wife's drawing-room, where they could not 
fail to be delighted with the conversation of 
Mrs. Rush, who was cultivated, brilliant, and 
original. 

Mrs. Rush was as fond of books as her 
husband, and was always engaged in some 
especial course of study ; but books alone did 
not satisfy her, she craved the stimulus of in- 
tellectual companionship. Her mind was one 
of unusual range and grasp, masculine rather 
than feminine in its characteristics. For this 
reason, perhaps, Mrs. Rush preferred the so- 
239 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

ciety of intellectual men to that of her own 
sex. She did not engage in the favorite pur- 
suits of the lady of forty years ago — shopping, 
visiting, and the like. Much of her time was 
spent in study, and the books that she read 
were of a kind that men were more ready to 
discuss with her than ^A7omen. Judge Carle- 
ton, w^ho had entered into the most culti- 
vated society in England and America, said 
that Mrs. Rush was the most intellectual 
woman whom he had met in this country, 
adding that she possessed an eminently philo- 
sophical mind. 

In the Old World, which she visited, it was 
the fashion for certain feminine l>eaux espi-its to 
gather about them a circle of able and distin- 
guished men. Madame de Stael charmed by 
the pow^ers of her conversation and the won- 
ders of her mind all the men who approached 
her, excepting only the great Napoleon, while 
certain gra^ide dames in England, as Lady Ash- 
burton and Lady Holland, drew around them 
a circle of the wits and intellectual giants 
of their time. Mrs. Rush's idea of holding a 
salo7i, of being at home to visitors at certain 
times and not being subject to incursions from 
callers at all hours of the day, was one of her 
foreign notions that made old Philadelphians 
wonder and criticize. The custom of being 
•' at home " upon certain days to callers was 
then unusual in America, except in official 
circles, and Madam Rush's attempt to recon- 
struct society, according to methods that had 

240 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

been adopted by an older civilization, was duly 
resented. She frankly defended her position 
by saying, "You ladies waste a great deal of 
time in paying and receiving calls. I neither 
visit or receive visits except on my days." 

Despite the unpopularity of some of her 
foreign fashions, Mrs. Rush's balls and matinees 
were far too elegant and delightful to be ig- 
nored, and men and women gladly accepted 
her invitations and flocked to her entertain- 
ments, even if she declined to spend her days 
in the drawing-room receiving a stream of 
visitors, and preferred her book or piano to a 
dish of gossip at high noon. The hours of 
this busy woman's day were all appropriated 
to study, to the practice of music, to reading, 
and to a daily constitutional up and down 
Chestnut Street, from her house to the Dela- 
ware, which she never omitted. This prome- 
nade w^as a sociable affair, as Mrs. Rush was 
always attended by two or three gentlemen 
and met many acquaintances who joined her. 

Men and w^omen, still in the prime of life, 
distinctly recall the rubicund face and portly 
form of Mrs. Rush as she appeared on the 
street \vhile taking her vigorous constitutional. 
One person remembers her in a crimson silk 
gow^n, which may have served to throw her 
far too brilliant complexion into the shade, 
while still another recalls the stout figure of 
the lady of fashion, enveloped in a green velvet 
•' mantilla," as she stood upon the sidewalk 
enjoying raw oysters, in a truly democratic 
i6 241 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

fashion, at Tatem's famous oyster-stand en 
Twelfth Street near Spruce. 

Whether introduced as a fashion by Mrs. 
Rush, or simply by good common sense, 
walking was for some years a favorite amuse- 
ment in Philadelphia. Mr. Samuel Breck 
speaks of being elected to a famous walking- 
club in 1837, in which some of his associate 
members were George Rundle, Thomas H. 
White, Jacob R. Smith, John R. Coates, and 
Thomas F., Francis R., and Fishbourn Whar- 
ton. Mr. Breck confesses that some of these 
" old codgers, to use the French phrase, se 
promenent en voiture^'' insisting upon having 
their carriages for the return trip. This was 
in later and more degenerate days, when a 
short walk and a long dinner had come to 
be the only feats required of the members of 
this club. Mr. Thomas Fishbourn W^harton 
speaks of earlier and more vigorous days of 
the vi^alking-club, when he and Mr. Thomas 
H. W^hite walked to Sloan's Mineral Spring, 
three miles from Camden, Ne\v Jersey. Nor 
does he make any mention of a dinner as the 
reward of their labors. 

Among Mrs. Rush's cards are quite a num- 
ber upon which is written an informal engage- 
ment to take a walk. Some of these are in 
French, as when " Mr. Saul de la Nouvelle 
Orleans" wrote upon his card a few lines in 
that language to learn whether their prome- 
nade should be at half-past two or five o'clock; 
other engagements are in Italian or Spanish, 

242 




Thomas Fishbourn Wharton 
By Vander Lyii 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

as Mrs. Rush, among other attainments, was 
the mistress of several languages. This ac- 
complishment drew many strangers to the 
Rush mansion, where foreign officials and 
visitors from abroad, and from the southern 
portions of our own continent, found a w^arm 
welcome and a hostess v/ho was ready to con- 
verse with them in their own tongues. Joseph 
Bonaparte, who established himself in or near 
Philadelphia soon after his arrival in America, 
was a guest of Madam Rush. Among cards 
left at her house, 179 Chestnut Street, opposite 
the State House, are some bearing the auto- 
graph " Le Cte. de Survilliers," which is the 
name by which the ex-King of Spain was. 
known in Philadelphia life. He is described 
by those who knew him as a courteous and 
charming man, although Mr. Samuel Breck, 
who met the Count on Third Street, said that 
his appearance was that of a plain country 
gentleman, and that he could not help won- 
dering why one of the nine servants whom 
he brought with him from England had not 
brushed his hat, which was decidedly shabby. 
The Comte de Survilliers spent a number 
of years near Philadelphia. He lived first 
at Lansdow^ne, John Penn's country-seat,* 

* Mr. Breck says, under the date April 20, 1816, "Yes- 
terday, as we were going to Belmont, my neighbor, Farmer 
Bones, informed me that the ex-king of Spain, Joseph 
Bonaparte, had hired Lansdowne House for one year — that 
he had been in his company in the morning, and found 
him a very plain, agreeable man." 
243 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

and afterwards at Point Breeze, near Borden- 
town, spending his winters in Philadelphia. 
A house on Ninth Street above Spruce still 
bears traces of the residence of the exiled 
King in the line of papering and decorations, 
and the Countess de Cuelebroeck, then Miss 
Willing, remembers a dinner given by the 
Comte de Survilliers at a house at the corner 
of Twelfth and Market Streets, which he 
rented from Stephen Girard.* It was at Point 
Breeze that the Comte de Survilliers passed so 
many years, during which his exile was some- 
times shared by his daughters, Zenaide and 
Charlotte, by young Murat, his nephew, and 
always by his faithful attendant and friend, 
Louis Maillard. Here Joseph Bonaparte lived 
the life of a country gentleman, surrounded 
by such congenial friends as the Hopkinsons, 
Du Barrys, and Tesseires, while from Phila- 
delphia and elsewhere he was visited by Mr. 
Charles J. Ingersoll, Dr. Nathaniel Chapman, 
General Cadwalader, Stephen Girard, Richard 
Stockton, United States Senator, and by such 
old soldiers of the Empire as Generals Henry 
and Charles Lallemand. The Comte de Sur- 
villiers was upon intimate terms with Dr. 
Monges, a French refugee, who came to Phil- 
adelphia accredited by the Royal Academy of 



* This was a three-story brick building, with a coach- 
house in the rear, and was considered a complete estab- 
lishment. At this time Mr. Girard lived on Water Street, 
in a plain, old-fashioned house. 
244 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Madrid and other scientific institutions abroad. 
The Princess Charlotte painted a portrait of 
Miss Cora Monges, afterwards Mrs. Charles 
Dutilh.* A close friendship existed between 
the family of Joseph Bonaparte and the Hop- 
kinsons. In one of the Count's letters, written 
from Point Breeze in 1823, he speaks of the 
approaching marriage of his daughter Char- 
lotte to " her cousin, Louis Napoldon, son of 
Louis Napoleon ci-devant King of Holland." 
In her letters to Mrs. Joseph Hopkinson, writ- 
ten after her marriage, the Princess Charlotte 
signed her name "Charlotte Napoleon." 

While living in Bordentown and in Phila- 
delphia, the Comte de Survilliers entertained 
his friends most hospitably, and evidently ac- 
cepted some invitations, as Dr. Rush recorded 
in his diary entertainments given to the Count. 
In March, 1839, Dr. Rush wrote : " This day 
gave dinner party and musical party in the 
evening to Count Survilliers, Joseph Bona- 
parte." This was while the Rushes were 
living on Chestnut Street, opposite the State 
House, where they gave a number of small 
musical soiries and receptions, as hundreds 
of notes of acceptance and regret, all care- 

* Charlotte Bonaparte possessed considerable artistic 
ability, and while at Bordentown with her father executed 
a number of sketches, paintings, and lithographs. Some 
of her work was collected in a volume named " Vues Pit- 
toresques de I'Am^rique dessin^es par la Comtesse Char- 
lotte Survilliers, 1824." She also exhibited some of her 
paintings at the Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. 
24s 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

fully labelled and preserved by Dr. Rush, 
abundantly testify. He also made notes upon 
special occasions, as when he recorded in his 
diary on November 14, 1838 : " Madam Cara- 
dori-Allan spent this evening with us in com- 
pany with a party, about fifty friends. She 

sang five songs — Madam B also sang. The 

two Miss Fords played, as did Miss Margaret 
Sergeant and Mr. Taylor." The Miss Ser- 
geant here mentioned was afterwards the wife 
of General George Gordon Meade, of Pennsyl- 
vania. Another night. Dr. Rush wrote that he 
and his wife went to the Musical Fund Hall 
to hear Madame Caradori sing, after w^hich 
they repaired to Mrs. Carroll's, on Chestnut 
Street opposite the Mint, where they met 
Madame Caradori and other friends, to the 
number of about twenty, and spent the re- 
mainder of the evening so agreeably that they 
did not return home until two o'clock in the 
morning, which was rather gay for old Phila- 
delphia. The cheerfulness with which Dr. 
Rush recalls these nocturnal gayeties sug- 
gests no thought of his having been bored by 
them. 

Madame Caradori Allan had already sung 
for Dr. and Mrs. Rush at a niusicale in March, 
1838, as appears from a note written by her 
husband, in which he thanks Mrs. Rush for 
some flowers sent to his wife, and says that 
she is occupied in preparing for the evening. 
Among Mrs. Rush's notes of acceptance to 
this entertainment is a very charming one from 
246 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Mr. Moncure Robinson, in which he says : "I 
take occasion to apprize yourself and Dr. Rush 
of a new acquaintance I have made through 
Mrs. Robinson, and who in time she will be 
most happy to present to you. Mrs. R. and 
this young gentleman are delighted with each 
other and are both doing very well. ... I am 
myself however no very great admirer of the 
young gentleman's voice which may be a good 
one, but has at present some harsh notes in 
it; and will cheerfully give it up once for the 
Caradori's." 

Mr. Moncure Robinson was a delightful con- 
versationalist. Having known many interest- 
ing persons abroad and in his own country, he 
possessed a vast fund of reminiscence, from 
which his excellent memory enabled him to 
draw freely. Another charming racanteiir^ who 
was a frequent guest at the Rushes', was Mr. 
"William D. Lewis. Mr. Le^vis, having repre- 
sented his country in Russia, was acquainted 
with that most difficult language, and trans- 
lated a number of Russian poems into English. 

Among frequent and informal guests of 
Mrs. Rush, while she lived opposite the State 
House, were Mr. and Mrs. W^illiam Jackson, 
Mr. and Mrs. James Dundas, Colonel and 
Mrs. Drayton, from South Carolina, beau- 
tiful Mrs. John Craig, who afterwards married 
Edward Biddle, the celebrated Dr. Jackson, 
Dr. William Keith, and Mr. Du Ponceau. The 
French lawyer, Peter Du Ponceau, had served 
under General W^ashington, and after the War 
347 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

of the Revolution made his home in Philadel- 
phia, where he was beloved by all who knew 
him. A pleasant story is told of Mrs. Pierce 
Butler (Fanny Kemble) and Mr. Du Ponceau. 
One winter day, when he was ill and feeble, 
Mrs. Butler called to see him, and finding that 
for some reason, — probably because he real- 
ized that he might not live to see the light of 
another June, — Mr. Du Ponceau had expressed 
a great desire for a rose. Roses in winter v/ere 
not plentiful then as now^, as only a few per- 
sons had hot-houses ; but Mrs. Butler, whose 
kind heart was touched by the old gentle- 
man's desire, set forth determined to gratify 
it. When she returned and found that Mr. Du 
Ponceau had fallen asleep, she gently placed 
where he could see it as soon as he opened 
his eyes, a superb red rose, that bore in its 
heart all the beauty and fragrance of the June 
that he was not destined to behold. 

Mr. and Mrs. John Sergeant and Mr. and 
Mrs. Nicholas Biddle were upon intimate 
terms with Dr. and Mrs. Rush. Mr. Biddle 
seems to have found favor in the eyes of the 
chronicling and usually fault-finding M. de 
Bacourt, who v^^as in America in 1840, as he 
recorded of him : " At the Athenaeum I made 
the acquaintance of M. Bidole whose name 
has resounded in financial circles abroad." 
M. de Bacourt described Mr. Biddle as " a 
handsome man wearing a blue coat with brass 
buttons, yellow nankeen pantaloons, canary 
colored gloves, and a glossy beaver." It was 
248 



I 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

he who said that "the world was ruled by 
three boxes — the ballot-box, the cartridge-box, 
and the band-box." Mr. Biddle's quips and 
quirks and jeu d'esprits were as much prized in 
his day as were those of Francis Hopkinson 
and Judge Peters, which served to enliven the 
gloom of a darker period of our history. All 
of these men possessed great social charm 
and good-humor, and despite their "gift of 
tongues," w^ere ever more loved than feared. 

Mr. Samuel Jaudon, who was associated 
with Mr. Biddle, and went to England to 
represent the interests of the United States 
Bank, was frequently at the Rushes' while in 
Philadelphia. 

A list of the visiting-cards left for Mrs. Rush 
at the house 179 Chestnut Street, and at the 
new^ mansion further west on the same street, 
would not only make a fairly accurate social 
register of the period, but would also furnish 
an almost perfect list of the visitors of distinc- 
tion, native and foreign, who came to Phila- 
delphia during certain years. All strangers of 
note brought letters of introduction to Dr. 
and Mrs. Rush, as their acquaintance, formed 
w^hile abroad and during their summers at 
Saratoga, w^as very large. One day Mr. Wald- 
burg Barclay, of New York, w^rote to avail 
himself of the permission, which Mrs. Rush 
had given him at Saratoga, to introduce one 
of his English friends, the Vice-Consul, Mr. 
B , "a most agreeable gentlemanlike per- 
son, who was passing through Philadelphia, 

249 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

en route for ■Washington, whither he goes to 
see the republican king crowned." Another 
day the Baron Davrainville wrote : " I have 
this instant met with Lord Chs Wellesley (the 
Duke of W^ 2"^^ son) ; and Capt. Lewis B. A. 
Will Mrs. Rush permit me to introduce them 
to her this evening, and w^ill she be kind 
enough to send at Jones Hotel, Invitations for 
the same." 

Dr. Rush seems to have preserved all the 
visiting-cards left for Mrs. Rush and himself. 
On these bits of pasteboard, yellowed by time, 
we read the names of all well-known Phila- 
delphians, while from other cities and coun- 
tries came many persons who have indelibly 
impressed their names upon the pages of 
history, science, philosophy, and literature. 
Among these guests were George Bancroft, 
the historian ; Dr. Channing, the great Uni- 
tarian preacher ; Dr. "William H. Furness, 
a younger divine of the same persuasion ; 
President Martin Van Buren, Mr. and Mrs. 
Fenimore Cooper, Charles Dickens, and Miss 
Harriet Martineau, v^^hom one lady speaks of 
as so deaf and so decided in her opinions as 
to make the "give and take" of conversation 
impossible, while Mrs. Pierce Butler said that 
if her stay in Philadelphia were long enough, 
she and Miss Martineau might become friends. 
General J. Harlan, who had served under the 
Ameer of Cabul, was entertained at the Rush 
house, and doubtless had yards of Arabian 
Nights tales with which to entertain the guests 
250 




Mrs. John Jacob Ridgway 

By Alexandre Cabanel 

Page 260 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

of Mrs. Rush ; and Henry W. Longfellow, — 
not the beautiful old man who came to Phila- 
delphia in 1876, but the young poet with the 
world before him. These and many other 
persons of distinction were w^armly welcomed 
by Mrs. Rush, her quick appreciation of genius 
and her readiness to honor it being one of the 
admirable sides of this ^voman's character. 

Although never beautiful, even in her youth, 
as is proved by a miniature which ^vas painted 
soon after her marriage, Mrs. Rush is de- 
scribed by those who knev^ her well as hav- 
ing possessed a certain air of distinction, that 
commanded respect and attention, despite the 
coarseness of her face and the ungainliness of 
her figure. Mrs. John Jacob Astor, of New 
York, who met Mrs. Rush at Saratoga and 
elsewhere, said of her that she was alw^ays 
a grande dame, and whenever she entered a 
drawing-room, at home or abroad, she became 
at once a centre of attraction and interest. 

No children of the same parents could have 
been more unlike than Mrs. Rush and her 
sister, Susan Ridgway. The latter was at- 
tractive in appearance and as gentle and 
retiring as Mrs. Rush was independent and 
pronounced. Susan Ridgway married Mr. 
Thomas Rotch, and after his death became 
the wife of the distinguished Dr. Rhea Bar- 
ton. Mrs. Barton was much beloved in her 
native city, where she spent the greater part 
of her life. 

Being a woman of pronounced character, 
251 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

strong prejudices, and sometimes carrying her 
frankness to the extreme of brusqueness, Mrs. 
Rush made many enemies and was often the 
subject of ill-natured gossip. One day, at the 
dinner-table of one of the large hotels at Sara- 
toga, some of the guests made a number of 
unpleasant and disparaging remarks about 
Mrs. Rush, who was in the habit of spend- 
ing the summer at this watering-place. Miss 
Josephine Iturbide was at the table, and after 
listening for some time w^ith growing indigna- 
tion, she finally rose to her full height and, 
with a flash of righteous wrath in her fine 
black eyes, exclaimed, "The woman of whom 
you are speaking is a friend of mine, and I call 
upon you to prove the statements that you 
have made." The circle of gossips — who had, 
of course, no proofs, as they did not even 
know Mrs. Rush and were dealing in hearsays 
— sat silent and much discomfited before 
Miss Iturbide's challenge, while a gentleman 
in another part of the room came for^vard and 
asked to be presented to Miss Iturbide, saying 
that he considered it an honor to take by the 
hand a woman who could so nobly champion 
an absent friend. 

That Mrs. Rush's social sway was arbitrary, 
and sometimes even cruel, there can be little 
doubt. If any misguided aspirant to social 
joys essayed to enter her doors unbidden, the 
retribution that overtook the offender was as 
swift and sure as a tongue barbed with the 
keenest satire could make it. It is, however, 
252 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

only fair to this woman to say that she was 
more prone to kindliness than to severity, and 
delighted to find in others the frankness that 
she herself exercised to the fullest extent. An 
equally frank and very witty lady, whom she 
was in the habit of visiting at her home on 
Fourth Street, said to her one day : " Mrs. 
Rush, I w^ish to ask a favor of you. You al- 
ways send me invitations to your balls. As I 
never go to balls, I am obliged to sit down and 
tell a story once every year by saying that I 
regret not being able to accept your invitation, 
when I don't regret it in the least. I would 
much rather not have the invitation." Mrs. 
Rush laughed and said, " I like your frankness, 
Mrs. Logan," and then and there promised 
that she should be troubled with no more invi- 
tations, although she show^ed that she valued 
Mrs. Logan's friendship by visiting her fre- 
quently. 

With all Mrs. Rush's love of books and 
study, she was an executive woman and emi- 
nently practical. Many persons remember 
seeing her at market -when the market was 
held in the centre of Market Street, and scraps 
of paper, still to be found among the Rush 
papers, upon which are scribbled household 
items and accounts, prove that she attended 
personally to the ways of her household. 
Some of these notes show that Mrs. Rush, 
like other great leaders and generals, paid the 
most minute attention to details. When a 
great ball was on the carpet, every item was 

253 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

noted, from the thirty pounds of coffee that 
were to be roasted a week in advance and put 
away in stone jars sealed, and the nine dozen 
terrapin, to the "ribbons for the programmes 
and the oranges and lemons to be hung on the 
orange and lemon trees." It was character- 
istic of Mrs. Rush that, in her abundant pro- 
viding, she ordered generous rounds of corned 
beef for the musicians and coachmen. 

In London and Paris, in both of which cities 
Dr. Rush's brother, the Honorable Richard 
Rush, represented the United States, the 
Rushes received marked attention. In Paris, 
which city they visited while Richard Rush 
v^^as American Minister there, they were called 
upon, not only by titled personages of the new 
regime, but by stately dames from the Fau- 
bourg St. Germain. Here such English and 
American acquaintances gathered around them 
as the Marquess and Marchioness of Lans- 
downe. Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, George 
Sumner, from Boston, Dr. and Mrs. Hay- 
ward, N. P. "Willis, Washington Irving, the 
Honorable Robert Walsh, Mr. Henry Beckett, 
who had married Mr. Walsh's daughter, Mr. 
and Mrs. James Hopkinson, and Mr. George 
Tiffany, ^vho was anxious to present his niece 
to Mrs. Rush. Mr. George R. Gliddon called 
upon Mrs. Rush and sent her a specimen of 
the latest " chique," as we gather from a tan- 
talizing card \vhich gives us no inkling of what 
the latest " chique " was at that particular date 
in the late forties. 

254 



1 




? 







Mrs. John William Wallace 

By George Freeman 

Page 261 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

So much pleasure did Mrs. Rush find in her 
foreign life, that it was her desire at this time 
to establish her residence abroad. This plan, 
however, did not suit Dr. Rush, who, although 
he had travelled much on the Continent in his 
youth as w^ell as in maturer years, spoke no 
language but his own, besides which he seems 
to have possessed a genuine affection for his 
native country. Mrs. Rush's desires were 
overruled by those of her husband in this 
instance, which goes to prove that Dr. Rush 
was not possessed of that yielding, almost 
negative, character with which some w^riters 
have been disposed to endow him. Those who 
knew this interesting and individual couple 
best, say that Dr. Rush was very decided in 
his opinions upon what he considered subjects 
of importance, while in all minor matters he 
allowed his wife to exercise her judgment and 
taste. In the question of their future home 
Dr. Rush was not disposed to yield, and thus 
to this quiet, unobtrusive scholar Philadelphia 
was indebted for the elegant and varied enter- 
tainments, that made the Rush mansion a syn- 
onym for what was gayest and most brilliant 
in the social life of this city during the years 
between 1848 and 1858. 

For some time after their return from abroad 
Dr. and Mrs. Rush lived at 358 Spruce Street, 
in a rather small and unpretentious house. 
This was while the mansion on Chestnut 
Street was being built. Some time in 1850 
they moved into their new residence, as after 

255 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

that year Dr. Rush's name appears in the 
directories of the day as James Rush, M.D., 
Chestnut Street west of Schuylkill Fourth. 

The Aldine Hotel stands upon the site of 
the Rush mansion and includes many of the 
rooms that were once the scene of entertain- 
ments which, if we are to credit contempora- 
neous descriptions, rivalled in splendor and 
brilliancy the famous scenes of the Thousand 
and One Nights. 

Some of the Rush furniture, in Buhl and in 
rich damask and gold, is still preserved, and is 
to be seen at the Ridgway Library, on South 
Broad Street, where a room is fitted up with 
this furniture and lined with books of the 
Rushes, father and son. Certain pieces of 
furniture are not only rich, but in good taste, 
w^hile most of the paintings, statuettes in 
Parian, vases, and other ornaments suggest 
pleasing reflections upon the immense strides 
made in artistic culture and feeling, since the 
days when Madam Rush furnished her new 
mansion on Chestnut Street according to the 
dictates of her fancy. Although a highly edu- 
cated woman, Mrs. Rush does not seem to 
have possessed a discriminating taste in the 
fine arts, if we may judge from the paintings 
that she bought for her house. It appears, 
however, from letters and recollections of the 
day, that unqualified admiration w^as accorded 
to the architecture and furnishing of the man- 
sion on Chestnut Street. Mrs. Henry Pratt 
McKean wrote to Dr. Rush, when Mr. Mc- 
256 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Kean \A^as building a house on "Walnut Street 
near Twentieth, asking if her husband might 
be permitted to walk through the lower floor, 
adding, "the ornamentation of the rooms we 
remember as very beautiful." 

The architecture and decoration of this house 
were not what lent to it its chief charm ; it 
was that Mrs, Rush possessed to an unusual 
degree the power of drawing together inter- 
esting, learned, and agreeable people. At her 
informal receptions and her Saturday matinees 
this brilliant hostess drew around her soldiers, 
statesmen, men of affairs, novelists, musicians, 
artists, princes, poets, and savants, a goodly 
company, each freely contributing of his best 
for the general entertainment. 

Miss Catharine Rush, in speaking of the 
matinees given by her aunt, at eleven o'clock on 
Saturday mornings, said that at these unique 
entertainments more distinguished men and 
women were gathered together than at any 
other house in the United States. One person 
whom Miss Rush remembers distinctly was 
Henry Clay, with his earnest, grave face, so 
much absorbed in his own thoughts, or in ob- 
serving the animated scene around him, that 
he appeared quite unconscious of the interest 
and attention that he was exciting as the lion 
of the hour. 

A young Philadelphian ■who already gave 

promise of a brilliant future. Dr. Joseph Leidy, 

\vas a chosen friend of both Dr. and Mrs. 

Rush. By the Doctor he was valued for his 

17 257 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

scientific knowledge, and by the lady of the 
house for a fine vein of humor and simplicity, 
which belonged to him. This latter grace, per- 
haps the rarest, the gods bestow with seeming 
careless hand upon little children and great 
men, as if to prove in the latter case that " much 
learning " need not " make men mad " or sad. 

We can readily imagine, when Dr. Nathan- 
iel Chapman uttered his latest bon mot, or Dr. 
Leidy related to the listening circle some of the 
wonders of the fairyland of science in which 
he loved to roam, that the luxurious surround- 
ings of the house were for the moment for- 
gotten, and champagne and terrapin were not 
needed to make the entertainment a success. 
Sometimes a fine vocalist would sing, — Grisi, 
Mario, and other celebrated artists were fre- 
quently presented to Mrs. Rush's guests ; 
sometimes a recitation would be given or 
some great curiosity exhibited, and always 
there were good music and a general discus- 
sion of the topics of the day. 

Among guests of Mrs. Rush -who could re- 
late tales worth hearing were Mr. George 
Robins Gliddon, the archaeologist, who had 
lived in Egypt as Vice-Consul, Mr. G. A. Peri- 
cardis, and Mr. Thomas Fishbourn Wharton, 
who, in addition to the many voyages that he 
had made to China, enjoyed the distinction of 
having been taken prisoner by a French vessel 
and carried to Paris. Not being kept in severe 
durance, Mr. Wharton had many stories to 
tell of the gay capital under the Directory, in 

258 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

whose streets he often met Madame Reca- 
mier and Madame Beauharnais, afterwards 
Madame Bonaparte. One of the brilliant fig- 
ures of the Rush entertainments of earlier 
days had passed away ; the sparkling wit of 
Nicholas Biddle no longer delighted the ap- 
preciative hostess or the listening guests. 

An attractive feature of Mrs. Rush's house, 
unusual in those days, was a conservatory 
on either side of the ball-room, ■which it was 
Dr. Rush's pleasure to fill with birds, as well 
as with blooming plants. This combination 
of conservatory and aviary added much to 
the fairy-like beauty of the scene. To the 
eyes of the many debutantes who made their 
entree at Mrs. Rush's balls, the hostess, who 
without beauty was capable of presenting 
a very magnificent appearance, must have 
seemed like the Queen of Fairyland, albeit 
a very robust and portly Titania, habited 
in rich velvet and lace instead of in the con- 
ventional gossamer and butterflies' wings of 
the land of fancy. Around the hostess were 
grouped such veritable graces and beauties as 
Elizabeth Willing, who married Mrs. Rush's 
brother, John Jacob Ridgway ; Mrs. John 
Butler; the James sisters, Phoebe and Patty, 
both handsome, the latter distinguished for her 
exquisite and spirituelle beauty ; Emeline and 
Caroline Phillips ; Elizabeth Wadsworth, of 
New York, and her even more beautiful sister- 
in-law, Mrs. James S. "Wadsworth, who was 
a daughter of Mr. John Wharton, of Philadel- 

259 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

phia. A frequent guest at Mrs. Rush's enter- 
tainments recalls an evening when some lover 
of beauty, seeing Mrs. John Jacob Ridgway, 
Mrs. "Wadsworth, and Mrs. John Butler stand- 
ing a little apart from the company engaged in 
conversation, dre^A7 a number of persons to the 
door of the room that they might admire the 
charming tableau vivant of these three graces, 
each one so lovely that it -was a puzzle to 
the beholder to know to which one should be 
awarded the golden apple of the gods. The 
three matrons stood talking together some 
time before they realized that they formed a 
distinct centre of admiration and interest, and 
then, says the narrator, there was some indig- 
nation on the part of the fair dames. Short- 
lived anger was this, we may believe, as there 
are few women, in the past or the present, 
who are capable of cherishing any very deep 
resentment against those whose only offence 
is to acknowledge and pay tribute to that 
power which has moved men and nations, and 
far back in the world's history led armies to 
contend upon the shores of Hellas. 

Mrs. John Butler v^^as a daughter of Lewis 
Morris, of Morrisania, New York, while from 
her mother, Miss Manigault, of South Caro- 
lina, she inherited her Southern beauty and 
charm of manner. The Honorable Craig 
Biddle, in writing of Mrs. Butler, said that, 
with rare beauty and distinction of manners, 
" The object of admiration both in this coun- 
try and in Europe, from her earliest years, 
260 




Mrs. Joliii lUiller 
By George Freeman 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

and frequenting for a time the gayest society, 
she preserved the same natural, unaffected de- 
meanor, and proved that spotless purity, even 
from the breath of scandal, was compatible with 
youth, beauty, and every attraction and success 
in social life. She possessed great tact, and 
that rare sense called 'common sense.'" 

Captain John Butler for many years com- 
manded the First Troop of Philadelphia City 
Cavalry, and at the breaking out of the war 
w^ith Mexico raised a company of horse, of- 
fered his services, and died during the cam- 
paign. Captain Butler was a brother of Major 
Pierce Butler, who married Miss Frances Anne 
Kemble, whose marvellous impersonations are 
still remembered by old Philadelphians, who 
delight in describing her as she appeared as 
"Juliet" or as "Bianca" in "Fazio," in w^hich 
latter role Miss Kemble made her dSu^ in New 
York and in Philadelphia. 

Other belles and beauties ^vho added to the 
brilliancy of Mrs. Rush's entertainments were 
Mrs. John William Wallace, who inherited 
the proverbial Willing beauty, the Misses Mc- 
Ilvaine, one of whom married Mr. W^illiam 
Camac, and Mrs. Carleton, the wife of Judge 
Carleton. Judge and Mrs. Carleton had no 
occasion for reprisals, as both had been mar- 
ried before. Mrs. Carleton, born Maria Van 
Der Burgh, had married Mr. Wiltbank in her 
early youth, while Judge Carleton's first wife 
was Aglae d'Aversac de Castera, a sister 
of Louise d'Aversac, who married Edward. 

261 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Livingston, of New York. Judge Carleton 
was a man of distinguished ability and attain- 
ments, and so charming in conversation and 
manner that Mrs. Rush w^as pleased to call 
him the Chesterfield of America. Especial 
friends of Dr. Rush as well as of Mrs. Rush, 
Judge Carleton and his wife were al^vays 
warmly welcomed to their home. When Mrs. 
Carleton entered the reception-room, in her ex- 
quisite French costumes of ermine and velvet, 
Mrs. Rush would sometimes thank her for 
adding so much to the beauty of her rooms by 
her attractive appearance, which proves that 
this w^oman who had the reputation of making 
sarcastic remarks, could also be gracious and 
appreciative. 

Another instance of Mrs. Rush's kindness 
to young guests from another city has been 
preserved in the Mason family of Georgetown. 
It was an open secret that Dr. Rush had in 
his youth been in love with Miss Eliza Chew. 
Miss Chew^ married Mr. James M. Mason. 
Many years later the daughters of this couple 
■were making a visit to Philadelphia. Mrs. 
Rush received them in her home with warm 
hospitality, saying to Miss Mason, "You know 
very ^vell, my dear, that if your mother had 
chosen to come, I should not be here." In 
view of the well-known fact that Mrs. Rush's 
large means provided the beautiful surround- 
ings in -which she received her guests, this 
speech was as generous as it was graceful. 

Although Mrs. Rush made no secret of the 
262 




Mrs. James S. VVadsworth 
By Thomas Sully 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

fact that she preferred the society of intelli- 
gent men to that of the average woman, she 
had ^varm friends among her own sex. The 
younger women w^hom she liked and admired 
were Mrs. Joshua Lippincott, the niece and 
adopted daughter of Mr. James Dundas ; witty, 
vivacious Mrs. George Chapman and Mrs. 
Oliver Hopkinson, w^ho recalls delightful even- 
ings at the Rush mansion and at her own 
house, v/here Dr. and Mrs. Rush were frequent 
guests. Mrs. Hopkinson, with a humorous 
twinkle in her eye, tells of a certain Baron 

P , who came to Philadelphia with letters 

to the German Consul and to Mrs. Rush. The 
stranger was entertained by Mrs. Rush, who 
asked Mrs. Hopkinson to invite him to one of 
her evening parties, w^hich she did. The man- 
ners of the Baron -were noticed to be rather 
peculiar, and at the end of a few days he sud- 
denly left the city. From letters received by 
the Consul, it appeared that he and Mrs. Rush 
had both been deceived by an impostor. This 
incident w^as not one of Mrs. Rush's favorite 
reminiscences, as she prided herself upon her 
knowledge of the world and of human nature. 
A New York beauty ^vho v^^as frequently to 
be met at the Rushes' was Elizabeth Wads- 
worth, a sister of General James S. Wads- 
w^orth, of Geneseo. Miss Wadsworth was an 
intimate friend of the Hopkinsons, by whom 
she is described as lovely in character as Avell 
as beautiful in person. For Mr. Joseph Hop- 
kinson's daughter, Mrs. William Biddle, Miss 
263 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

Wadsworth had her portrait painted by Sully, 
■which is still in possession of the Hopkinson 
family. When the Honorable Charles Augus- 
tus Murray was in America collecting mate- 
rials for his book of travels among the Indians 
of North America, and for his "Prairie Bird," 
which appeared later, he met Miss Wads- 
worth and became warmly attached to her. 
The American beauty returned the affection 
of her English lover, but refused to marry him 
and leave her father. Some years later, after 
the death of Mr. Wadsworth, his daughter 
accepted an invitation to go abroad with a 
party of friends. In London or in Paris she 
met Mr. Murray, who had remained faithful 
to his early love ; they became engaged, were 
married, and went to Cairo, where Mr. Murray 
held an official position. 

Among frequent guests of Mrs. Rush's v/ere 
Mrs. Edward Biddle, who as Mrs. John Craig 
had visited her in her home opposite the State 
House; Commodore and Judge Biddle, and 
Mr. Henry D. Gilpin, whose Southern wife 
afterwards held an interesting and attractive 
salon in Philadelphia; while from New York 
there came Eugene Livingston, Mrs. Van 
Rensselaer, of Albany, Miss Euphemia Van 
Rensselaer, Dr. Valentine Mott, and Miss 
Lynch, aftev/ards Mrs. Botta, who gathered 
around her in her own salon in New York all 
the clever people, the brilliant conversational- 
ists, the artists, and literati of her time. 

Mrs. Rush, with whom the art of enter- 
264 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

taining had been elevated to the dignity of a 
science, had her codes and aphorisms. One 
of her favorite sayings was : " An ex-Presi- 
dent, a foreign minister, a poet, two or three 
American artists, as many lady authors, a 
dozen merchants, lawyers, physicians, and 
others w^ho are there on the simple footing 
of ' gentlemen ' — their wives who come as re- 
spectable and agreeable 'ladies' — fifty young 
men who are good beaux and dance well, fifty 
pretty girls without money, but respectable, 
well dressed, lively, charming, are always in- 
dispensable at a party." 

Of pretty girls and worthy young men who 
were ready to dance to the piping of Mrs. 
Rush's fiddlers, there were doubtless no lack; 
but in securing the requisite complement of 
" lady authors," the pow^ers of this valiant 
hostess must at times have been taxed, as 
women writers were not as numerous in old 
Philadelphia as in that of to-day. Mrs. Rush, 
how^ever, made the most of what she could 
command. Mrs. Sarah Josepha Hale, probably 
the first woman editor in America, was then 
conducting the Godeys Ladys Book in Phila- 
delphia, and Miss Eliza Leslie, who so charm- 
ingly combined the ideal and the practical, 
was writing her clever tales, compiling her 
cookery books, and editing her magazine. 
Miss Leslie w^as often at Mrs. Rush's house 
with her beautiful sister, Patty, who married 
Mr. Henry C. Carey. 

To her gay freight of belles and beaux, this 
26s 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

diplomatic hostess added as ballast a number 
of older men and women who preferred cards 
or conversation to dancing, and always such 
lions in literature, art, and science as happened 
to be roaming about Philadelphia at that time. 
It was this latter feature of Mrs. Rush's enter- 
tainments that won for them their title to dis- 
tinction. Other Philadelphians gave handsome 
balls, and dances of greater or less brilliancy, 
but her entertainments possessed the unique 
attraction of drawing together the wise and 
learned as w^ell as the gay and the pleasure- 
loving. 

When she gave her great balls Mrs. Rush 
stood at the entrance to her reception-room, 
which was on the left of the hall. Through 
this reception-room the guests passed, and 
on through another small room into the large 
ball-room, which included the two drawing- 
rooms and the hall, the doors being so arranged 
that these three rooms could be thrown into 
one. The conservatories occupied the wings 
on either side, between which lay the garden, 
w^hich, like the conservatories, w^as always 
brilliantly illuminated. The supper-room was 
on the second floor ever the ball-room. The 
buffet was along the side of the room, the 
great supper-table, which could accommodate 
sixty persons, being in the centre. Here the 
ladies were all seated, the gentlemen standing 
behind their chairs to wait upon them. In 
this instance Mrs. Rush was kind to her o^vn 
sex in sparing them from standing with a plate 
266 




Nicholas Biddle 
By Thomas Sully 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

in one hand and a wine-glass in the other, 
while they balanced in their minds the rival 
claims of nectar and ambrosia. How the ap- 
petites of the waiting gentlemen were satisfied 
is involved in some doubt, as it was clearly 
understood that there w^as to be no undue loit- 
ering at the festal board. In those hours of 
"storm and stress" even this valiant hostess 
must have longed for the serene face and 
"steadfast cheek" of the unflinching Bogle, 
who, -whether his duty called him to preside 
over scenes of joy or woe, was more than 
equal to each occasion. This celebrated waiter, 
w^ithout whom no Philadelphian of a certain 
station in social life could entertain, be chris- 
tened, married, or buried with due state, pro- 
priety, and solemnity, has been immortalized 
by Mr. Nicholas Biddle in some of his humor- 
ous verses. Of this " colorless colored man " — 
Robert Bogle was a light mulatto — Mr. Biddle 
wrote : 

" See him, erect, with lofty tread, 
The dark scarf streaming from his head, 
Lead forth his groups in order meet 
And range them grief-wise in the street ; 
Presiding o'er the solemn show — 
The very Chesterfield of woe." 
******* 

*' Nor less, stupendous man ! thy power 
In festal than in funeral hour, 
When gas and beauty's blended rays 
Set hearts and ball-rooms in a blaze, 
Or spermaceti's light reveals 
More ' inward bruises ' than it heals ; 
267 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

In flames each belle her victim kills, 
And * sparks fly upward ' in quadrilles : 
Like iceberg in an Indian clime 
Refreshing Bogle breathes sublime 
Cool airs upon that sultry stream, 
From Roman punch and frosted cream." 

Bogle, like his genial chronicler, had taken 
his place in the halls of the immortals, the 
*' undertaker had been overtaken," and John- 
son and Chew marshalled the gay throng in 
Mrs. Rush's dining-room. 

In was on the occasion of one of the last of 
these great balls that the affair of the Rush 
diamonds occurred, which stirred the Phila- 
delphia world of that day as once the world 
of Paris was stirred by the mystery of a 
diamond necklace. The story, " a twice-told 
tale " to many old inhabitants, runs thus : The 
ball, given in January, 1857, was one of great 
splendor. Mrs. Rush is described by a lady, 
^vho distinctly recollects many incidents of 
this famous entertainment, as standing at the 
entrance to the reception-room to welcome 
her guests, attired in crimson velvet trimmed 
with rich white lace, her neck and arms blazing 
v^ith jewels. This lady recalls the beauty 
and brilliancy of the scene, the last of many 
balls given by this hospitable couple, who 
were so soon to be the victims of a strange 
and mysterious robbery. The narrator re- 
members that a light fall of snow covered the 
ground when the guests tripped down the 
steps to their carriages. It was about five in 
268 




Mrs. Nicholas Kiddle 
By Thomas Sully 



Ml 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

the morning when, the last guest having de- 
parted, Dr. and Mrs. Rush retired to their 
rooms, Mrs. Rush removed her diamonds, 
which were valued at twenty-one thousand 
dollars, and left them in their caskets on her 
dressing-table, the outer door of her room, ac- 
cording to her own account, not being fas- 
tened. Overcome by the fatigue of the evening, 
she dismissed her maid and retired at once, 
without stopping to put away her jewels. In the 
short interval before daylight Mrs. Rush fan- 
cied that she heard the door leading from her 
room to Dr. Rush's open and shut ; but sup- 
posing that it was her husband passing through, 
she paid no attention to the circumstance. He, 
too, heard the noise, and w^ondered "what 
Ann was up for," but paid no attention to it. 
At daylight the next morning Mrs. Rush recol- 
lected that she had not left on the ledge or 
table outside some money for an article that 
she w^as always accustomed to send to market 
for on that day, which must be purchased 
early. She rose and went to her bureau- 
dra\ver, in which she had left some money ; 
the money was gone; she opened the jewel 
caskets, which were empty.* She instantly 

* In one account of this affair, it is stated that the robbery 
occurred a night and a day after the ball, as Dr. and Mrs. 
Rush slept very late into the next day. This seems rather 
improbable for several reasons, and may be almost dis- 
proved by the fact that Mrs. Rush could not have sent her 
maid to market on Sunday morning. This ball, like all 
the Rush balls, was given on Friday night. 

269 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

aroused Dr. Rush, who bade her keep still 
while he examined the doors of the house. All 
were locked and the outer hall door was duly 
fastened. The new^-fallen snow showed no 
trace of footsteps. Dr. Rush called a detec- 
tive ; the servants AA^ere assembled and told 
that they must submit to an examination. Not 
a trace of the thief or booty could be found. 
The police of Philadelphia did their best, but 
discovered nothing. The matter created a 
great sensation and was the subject of news- 
paper comment in other cities. Many persons 
insisted on suspecting one of the guests at the 
ball, but Dr. and Mrs. Rush seem to have 
thought otherwise. The detective fancied 
something suspicious in the manner of the 
cook, who w^as engaged to a jeweller in 
New Orleans, ^vhom she afterwards married. 
Nothing could be proved, however, to justify 
her detention. 

This is the clearest and most detailed ac- 
count of the transaction that has yet appeared. 
It was currently reported at one time that the 
jewels had been restored, also that Dr. and 
Mrs. Rush had discovered the offender, w^hose 
name they suppressed from motives of delicacy 
and kindness. This latter is only an on dit. 
Nothing has been absolutely proved; and so 
the interesting affair of the Rush diamonds 
must be left among the unsolved mysteries of 
history and romance. 

Not many months after this famous ball, 
which became notable on account of the 

270 



SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 

strange disappearance of the jewels of the 
hostess, Mrs. Rush died suddenly at Saratoga. 
Dr. Rush, lonely and old before his time, re- 
turned to the great house on Chestnut Street, 
where he led the life of a recluse. The spa- 
cious rooms w^ere all closed except the one or 
two which he used, and here he lived alone 
the remainder of his days. After the death of 
Dr. Rush, it was found that a large portion of 
the fortune that he and Mrs. Rush had enjoyed 
w^as left for the erection of a library on Broad 
Street. This library, in accordance with the 
modest request of Dr. Rush, was to be called 
the Ridgway Library, the bulk of their fortune 
having come from the father of Mrs. Rush, old 
Jacob Ridgway, the Quaker merchant. 

The Ridgway Library on South Broad Street, 
with its many rare books and manuscripts and 
its pleasant reading-rooms and alcoves, is a 
fitting memorial to Mrs. Rush, who w^as all 
her life a lover and patron of letters. Yet her 
highest claim to distinction will ever rest in the 
fact that she gathered around her the brightest 
and best men and women in her own city, 
and afforded them opportunities to meet dis- 
tinguished persons from other cities and lands. 
For this, her name should descend to posterity 
with those of the pn'cieuscs of France, who 
gave to the w^orld the highest ideal of the 
salon, and with the names of such English 
women as Mrs. Elizabeth Montague, Mrs. 
Elizabeth Carter, and charming Mary Clarke, 
Madame Mohl. 

271 



I 



INDEX 



Abercrombie, Dr., log. 

Adams, Abigail (Mrs. William 
S. Smith), 45. 

Adams, Charles, 45. 

Adams, Henry, historian, 187, 
188. 

Adams, John, in Philadelphia, 
s8, 77, 83, 105, lo8, 112, 170 ; Vice- 
President, 35, 43; advice on 
etiquette, 36-39 ; salary of, 41 ; 
in London, 44, loi ; President 
of United States, 153, 181-183. 

Adams, John Quincy, 103, 206. 

Adams, Mrs. John, letters of, 63 ; 
in London, 102, 231 ; impres- 
sions of Philadelphia, 103-106 ; 
admires Philadelphia women, 
J34i 135. 141 1 150 ; ability of, 149, 
192 ; in Washington, 180-183 ; 
drawing-room of, 182-184. 

Alexander, Catherine, 64 (see 
Lady C. Duer). 

Alexander, William, Earl of 
Stirling, 64, 66. 

Alison, Dr. Francis, 38. 

Allen, Ann, 94 (see Mrs. John 
Penn). 

Allen, Mrs. 'William, 130. 

Allen, William, Chief Justice, 
25-37, 94, 212. 

Alsop, John, 44. 

Alsop, Mary (Mrs. Rufus King), 
44. 

Ames, Fisher, 49, 103. 

Andre, Major John, 78. 

Armstrong, General John, Secre- 
tary of War, 204, 205. 



Arnold, General Benedict, 95, iig. 
Arnold, Mrs. Benedict, 133, 145. 
Ashburton, Lady (Anne Louisa 

Bingham), 141, 152, 219. 
Ashburton, Lady Harriet, 153, 

240. 
Ashburton, Lord (Alexander 

Baring), 152, 155, 219. 
Astor, Mrs. John Jacob, of New 

York, 251. 
" Asylum," 146. 

B 

Bache, Mrs. Richard, 131, 133. 

Bacourt, M. de, 248. 

Bagot, Sir Charles, 207. 

Bancroft, George, historian, 250. 

Bank of North America, char- 
tered, 136, 137. 

Baring, Henry, 152, 153. 

Baring, Hon. Alexander, 152 (see 
Lord Ashburton). 

Baring, Sir Francis, 152. 

Baring, William Bingham (Lord 
Ashburton), 153. 

Barlow, Joel, 111. 

Barnes, Mrs. (Priscilla Birch), 
miniature of, 223. 

Barron, Captain James, of "Ches- 
apeake," 30O. 

Barron, Isabel, miniature of, 338. 

Barton, Benjamin Smith, 110. 

Barton, Dr. and Mrs. Rhea, 351. 

Barton. Judge William, designs 
seal of United States, 110; por- 
trait of, 110, 213. 

Barton, Mrs. William, portrait 
of, 113, 313. 

Barton, Rev. Thomas, 17, 113. 



18 



273 



INDEX 



Bartram's Garden, io8. 

Bartram, John, log. 

Bartram, William, log, no, 167. 

Bayard, James A., 206. 

Bayard, Mrs. John, 53. 

Beaujolais, Due de, in Philadel- 
phia, 158. 

Beckett, Henry, 254. 

Beekman, Mrs. James, 53. 

Bell, Mrs. David (Judith Gary), 
23. 

Bembridge, Henry, 211. 

Beveridge, John, 27, 28, 220. 

Biddle, Colonel Clement, 93, 117, 

223. 

Biddle, Commodore, 264. 

Biddle, Hon. Craig, 260, 264. 

Biddle, Mrs. Clement, 23, 228. 

Biddle, Mrs. Edward (Mrs. John 
Craig), 247, 264. 

Biddle, Mrs. Nicholas, 227,248. 

Biddle, Mrs. 'William, 263. 

Biddle, Nicholas, portrait of, 227 ; 
appearance, 248 ; wit of, 249, 
259 ; verses of, 267. 

Bingham, Anne Louisa (see 
Lady Ashburton). 

Bingham, Maria Matilda, 152, 
153. 

Bingham, Mrs. AA^illiam, ad- 
mired by Mrs. Adams, 105, 141, 
142, i3i ; attractions of, 129, 146, 
148 ; marriage of, 135 ; abroad, 
138 ; has portrait of Washing- 
ton painted, 139, 140 ; portraits 
of, 141 ; family of, 144, 155 ; 
drawing-room of, 149, 150, 162, 
235 ; difficulty with Wignell, 
150-152 ; marriage of daughters, 
J52-I55- 

Bingham, 'William, new house, 
78, 142, 143, 145, 236 ; owns Lans- 
downe, 99 ; financial aid in 
Revolution, 136, 137; friendship 
with Lord Lansdowne, 138, 140 ; 
portraits of, 141, 219 ; friend of 
■Washington, 146; marriage of 
daughters, 152-155. 



Binney, Hon. Horace, 162. 

Binney, Mary, 160. 

Binney, Susan (Mrs. John B. 

Wallace), 107. 
Birch, William R., artist, an ; 
enamels of Washington, 221 ; 
recollections of, 216-221 ; anec- 
dote of Athenaeum portrait, 321, 
222 ; miniatures, 223, 224. 

Blackwell, Rev. Robert, 109, 144. 

Bland, Colonel Theodoric, 48, 133. 

Blodget, Samuel, 173, 174. 

Bogle, " Ode to," 267, 268. 

Bolivar, General Simon, 233. 

Bonaparte, Charlotte, 244, 245. 

Bonaparte, Joseph, at Point 
Breeze, 220, 232, 244, 245 ; at the 
Rushes', 243, 245. 

Bonaparte, Madame Jerome, 304. 

Bonaparte, Zenaide, 344. 

Bond, Phineas, 25. 

Bond, Thomas, 25. 

Bordley, Elizabeth, 156. 

Boston, society in, 128, 129. 

Botta, Mrs. Vincenzo, 264. 

Bowdoin, Governor James, 51. 

Bradford, William, Attorney- 
General, 43, 75, 117. 

Bradford, William, early printer, 
29. 

Bradford, William, " patriot 
printer," 28, 29. 

Bradstreet, Mrs. Simon, 13. 

Breck, Hon. Samuel, recollec- 
tions of, 128, 131 ; at the Bing- 
hams', 138, 139, 149; friend of 
French exiles, 158, 159 ; in 
Washington, 197. 

Breck, Samuel, Sr., of Boston, 
128, 158. 

Brown, John Henry, artist, 211, 
231. 

Browne, English artist, 231. 

Bryas, Countess Jacques de, 141. 

Buchanan, James, 229. 

Bullus, Dr. John, affair of " Ches- 
apeake," 199, 200; portraits of, 
213. 



274 



INDEX 



Bullus, Mrs. John, igg, 200. 
Burd, Edward, 145. 
Bush Hill Hospital, 171. 
Butler, Captain John, 261. 
Butler, Major Pierce, 166, 261. 
Butler, Mrs. John, 259-261. 
Butler, Mrs. Pierce (F. A, Kem- 

ble), 24S, 250. 
Byrd, Colonel William, 145. 
Byrd, Mrs. William, 144, 145. 



Cad^vaIader, Colonel Lambert, 

Cadwalader, Dr. Thomas, 25. 
Cadwalader, Frances, 153 (see 

Lady Erskine). 
Cadwalader, General John, 199. 
Cadwalader, General Thomas, 

328, 244. 
Cadwalader, Mrs, John, 195, 197, 

igS. 
Callander, Mrs. James H., igS, 

199. 
Camac, Mr. and Mrs. 'William, 

261. 
Caradori-Allan, Madame, 246, 247. 
Carey, Mr. and Mrs. H. C, 265. 
Carleton, Judge, 240, 261, 262. 
Carleton, Mrs., 262. 
Carlyle, Jane Welsh, 152. 
Carpenter, Joshua, 19. 
Carroll, Charles, of Carrollton, 

43, 60. 
Carroll, Daniel, 177. 
Carroll, Mrs. Charles (Harriet 

Chew), 225, 226. 
Cary, Colonel Archibald, 23. 
Caton, Mr. and Mrs. Richard, 60. 
Chambers, Charlotte, ro6, 107. 
Chapman, Dr. Nathaniel, 244, 

263. 
Chapman, Mrs. George, 263. 
Chase, Judge Samuel, 218, 219. 
Chastellux, Marquis de, in Phila- 
delphia, 74, 119, 130; remarks 

on society in Philadelphia, no, 



131-135 ; in South and East, 

127-129. 
Chestnut, Mrs. James, 161, 168. 
Cheves, Judge Langdon, 228-230. 
Cheves, Mrs. Langdon, 228-230, 
Chew, Ann, 207, 208. 
Chew, Chief-Justice Benjamin, 

political positions of, 83, 84 ; 

town residence, 99 ; German- 
town home, H7, 225. 
Chew, Peggy (Mrs. John E. 

Howard), 99. 
Chew, Sophia (Mrs. Henry 

Philips), 139, 225. 
Clay, Henry, 206 ; guest of Mrs. 

Rush, 257. 
Clifford, Anna, 32, 90. 
Clifford, John, 85, 90. 
Clifford, Thomas, 31. 
Clinton, Mrs. George, 53, 
Clinton, Sir Henry, iig. 
Clymer, George, 47, 67, 68, 99, 105, 

213. 

Clymer, Mary, 141. 

Clymer, Mrs. Henry, 154, 155. 

Clymer, William Bingham, 141. 

Cockburn, Admiral, 206. 

Coleman, Elizabeth, 214. 

College of Philadelphia (Univer- 
sity of Pennsylvania), founding 
of, 26, 27, 30. 

Conyngham, David H., 136, 158. 

Cooper, Dr. Samuel, 170. 

Copley, John Singleton, artist, 
217. 

Cosway, Richard, artist, 225. 

Cox, Colonel John, Assistant 
Quartermaster, 99, 100, 117, 168. 

Cox, Elizabeth, i5i, 162. 

Cox, Mrs. John,, 99, 100, 157 ; let- 
ters from Philadelphia, 160, 161, 
16S, 169. 

Cox, Sarah (see Mrs. John R. 
Coxe), 157. 

Coxe, Dr. John R., 168-170, 3X3. 

Coxe, Mrs. John R., 155, 156, 
161, 168. 

Coxe, Tench^je. 



27s 



INDEX 



Gushing, Judge William, 223. 
Gushing, Mrs. William, 223, 224. 
Gustis, Eleanor Parke (Mrs. 

Lawrence Lewis), 52, 97. 
Gustis, Eliza Parke (Mrs. Thomas 

Law), 97. 
Gustis, G. W. P., 52, 116, 200. 
Gustis, Martha Parke, 97. 
Gutler, Rev. Manasseh, New 

York diary, 49, 50, 56, 65, 66. 
Gutts, Mrs. Richard, igi, 192. 



Damas, Charles, Comte de, 129, 

130. 133. 
Dana, Mr. and Mrs. Richard, 

miniatures of, 230, 231. 
Decatur, Stephen, 208. 
Drayton, Col. and Mrs. William, 

247. 
Dickinson, General Philemon, 

46, 67. 
Dickinson, John, 27, 121, 124, 

174. 

Dove, James David, 28. 

Downing, Jacob, go, gi. 

Dreer, Ferdinand J., 232. 

Drexel, Francis Martin, comes 
to Philadelphia, 332 ; paints 
portraits, 232 ; banker, 233. 

Drexel, Mrs. Francis Martin, 
miniature of, 233. 

Drinker, Elizabeth, diary of, 82, 
X13, 130, 131 ; marriage of 
daughters, 88, gi ; on French 
minister's ball, 120, 126 ; on por- 
traits, 210, 211. 

Drinker, Henry S., 72, 113; op- 
posed to portraits, 210, 211. 

Drinker, Molly, elopes, 88. 

Drinker, Sally (Mrs. Jacob 
Downing), gi. 

Duch^, Rev. Jacob, 83. 

Duer, Colonel William, 64, 66. 

Duer, Lady Catherine, at Mrs. 
Washington's drawing-room, 
53; entertainments of, 63, 65, 
66 ; marriage of, 64. 



Dulles, Joseph, 228. 

Dulles, Mary, 228. 

Dumas, Cuillaume Matthieu, lag. 

130. 
Dundas, James, 247, 263. 
Dundas, Mrs. James, 247. 
Du Ponceau, Peter, 166, 247, 248. 
Du Pont, Mr. and Mrs. Charles 

IrenSe, portrait of, 227. 
Du Pont, Victor, 227. 

E 

Ellicott, Andrew, succeeds L'En- 
fant, 177. 

Ellsworth, Oliver, 42, 103. 

Emlen, George, 85, 8g, 143. 

Emlen, Nancy, 87. 

Emlen, Sally, gi. 

Eppes, John, 156. 

Eppes, Mrs. John, igi. 

Erskine, David Montague (Lord 
Erskine), marriage, 153, igg ; 
British Minister, 193, 195, 196 ; 
family of, 197, 198. 

Erskine, Jane (Mrs. J. H. Gal- 
lander), igS. 

Erskine, Lady, marriage, 153, 
199 ; returns to America, 195, 
196 ; daughters of, 197-igg. 

Erskine, Mary (Baroness Taut- 
phoeus), ig8. 

Evans, Rev. Nathaniel, 22, 24. 

Eve, Captain Oswald, 31. 

Eve, Sarah, 31 ; diary of, 32, 33; 
engaged to Dr. Benjamin Rush, 

33, 34. 
Eve, Sarah (Mrs. Adams), 33. 
Eyre, Manuel, 72. 



Fauchet,M. Jean Antoine Joseph, 

65- 

Feke, Robert, 30, 211. 

Ferguson, Elizabeth, literary 
circle of, 13, 14, 20, 24, 30, 121 ; 
literary work, 15, 16, 22; book- 
plate, 17 ; visits Great Britain, 
17, 18, ig; diary, i3, 31; mar- 



276 



INDEX 



riage, 21 ; political complica- 
tions, 22, 23 ; last years, 24. 

Ferguson, Henry Hugh, 21, 22, 

Field, Robert, artist, 231. 

Fisher, Dr. Henry M., 141. 

Fisher, Joshua Francis, 15. 

Fisher, Miers, 82, 83, 85. 

Fisher, Mrs. Miers, 85. 

Fitzsimons, Thomas, 47, 68, 136. 

Fleury, Major, 164. 

Fothergill, Dr. John, 17, 18. 

Francis, Mrs. Willing, 232. 

Francis, Tench, 25, 27, 99, 117, 213. 

Franklin, Dr. Benjamin, ingen- 
ious friends, 24 ; founds College 
of Philadelphia, 26 ; various 
talents of, 28, 29, 132 ; at 
Stenton, 166. 

Franklin, ^Valter, New York 
house of, 47, 48. 

Franks, Abigail, 105. 

Franks, Colonel Isaac, 116. 

Franks, Rebecca, 118, 119. 

Fraser, Charles, artist, 234. 

Furness, Dr. Horace Howard, 
230. 

Furness, Dr. William H., 250, 



Gallatin, Albert, 193, 206. 

Galloway, Jane (Mrs. Joseph 
Shippen), 29. 

Genet, Edmond Charles, French 
Minister, 65, 114, 165, 

Germantown, Washington's resi- 
dence in, 114-H7 ; refuge during 
yellow-fever, 114-117, 167, 168. 

Gerry, Elbridge, 45. 

Gilpin, Mr. and Mrs. Henry D., 
264. 

Gilpin, Thomas, 82. 

Girard, Stephen, house of, 72, 
244 ; care of yellow-fever pa- 
tients, 170, 171. 

Gliddon, George R., 254, 258. 

Godfrey, Thomas, poet, 32, 79. 

Goodrich, Chauncey, 62, 103. 



Goodrich, Mrs. Chauncey (Ma- 
rianne Wolcott), 61, 62. 

Gouverneur, Mrs. Samuel L. 
(Maria Monroe), 207. 

Graeme, Dr. Thomas (father of 
Mrs. Ferguson), 14, 17, 20. 

Graeme, Elizabeth (see Elizabeth 
Ferguson), 13. 

Graeme, Mrs. Thomas, 14, 15, 18, 
19. 

Graeme Park, 13, 14. 

Gray's Gardens, 107, 108, 

Green, Rev. Ashbel, 78, log. 

Greene, Mrs. Nathaniel, 56, 57. 

Greene, Nathaniel, Quartermas- 
ter-General, 57, 58, 99. 

Greenleaf, James, 176. 

Griffin, Lady Christiana, 64. 

Griffitts, Dr. Samuel P., 170. 

Griswold, Rufus W., 48, 103. 

Guest, Betsy, 32. 

H 

Habersham, Colonel Joseph, 59. 

Hale, Mrs. Sarah Josepha, 265. 

Hall, Charles, miniatures of, 213, 
214. 

Hall, Susan, 123. 

Hallett, Stephen L., architect of 
the Capitol, 178. 

Hamilton, Alexander, Secretary 
of the Treasury, 35, 43, 44 ; ad- 
vice on etiquette, 35-37, 39 ; New 
York residence, 49; favorite of 
Washington, 54 ; resigns from 
Treasury, 63 ; in Philadelphia, 
76, 103, 114, 116, 149, 155, 159. 

Hamilton, Andrew, 105. 

Hamilton, Ann (Mrs. James 
Lyle), 105. 

Hamilton, Governor James, 17, 

25- 

Hamilton, Mrs. Alexander, draw- 
ing-room of, 53, 54. 
Hamilton, William, 142, 167, 212. 
Headley, J. T., 198. 
Heatley, Sophia, 228. 



277 



INDEX 



Helm, Peter, aids yellow-fever 

patients, 170, 171. 
Henri, Pierre, artist, 211. 
Henry, Judge 'William, 17. 
Hesselius, Gustavus, 311, 277. 
Hesselius, John, 211. 
Hiltzheimer, Jacob, 120. 
Hoban, James, 178. 
Hopkinson, Francis, poet and 

satirist, 14, 24 ; wit of, 102, 103, 

249. 
Hopkinson, Joseph, author of 

" Hail Columbia," 103, 149. 
Hopkinson, Mrs. Joseph, 149, 345. 
Hopkinson, Mrs. Oliver, 263. 
Hopkinson, Mrs. Thomas, 29, 30. 
Hopkinson, Thomas, 212. 
Howard, General John K., 99, 174, 

225. 
Howard, Mrs. John E., 225. 
Howe, General Sir William, 23, 

85, 95. 

Howell, Sydney, 93. 

Humphreys, Colonel David, 79. 

Huntington, Benjamin, 43. 

Huntington, Daniel, paints Re- 
publican Court, 40, 43, 53, 58, 

59- 
Hutchinson, Dr. James, mar- 
riage, 93 ; attends yellow-fever 
patients, 113, 114; death, 170. 



Ingersoll, Charles J., 344. 
IngersoU, Hon. Jared, 75, 79. 
Inglis, John, 26. 
Inglis, Samuel, 136. 
Inman, Henry, 2H. 
Iredell, Judge James, 43, 76, 
Irving, 'Washington, 164, 192,254. 
Iturbide, Josephine, friend of 

Mrs. Rush, 252. 
Izard, Mrs. Ralph, 53. 
Izard, Ralph, 133. 



Jackson, Francis James, British 

Minister, 179, 197. 



Jackson, Major William, 40, 144, 
155. 

Jackson, Mrs. Simon, 160. 

Jackson, Mrs. William, 144, 155. 

James, Phoebe (Mrs. Saunders 
Lewis), 259. 

Jarvis, John 'Wesley, 211. 

Jaudenes, Don Jose, Spanish 
Minister, 223. 

Jaudon, Samuel, 249. 

Jay, John, Chief Justice, 35, 43 ; 
marriage, 146; in Philadelphia, 
149. 

Jay, Mrs. John, at Mrs. Washing- 
ton's receptions, 53 ; drawing- 
room of, 63 ; attractions of, 63, 
64, 149. 

Jefferson, Maria (Mrs. John 
Eppes), 59, 108, 156. 

Jefferson, Martha (Mrs. T. M. 
Randolph), 58. 

Jefferson, Thomas, opinion on 
etiquette, 37, 38 ; salary of, 41 ; 
Secretary of State, 43, 49 ; ap- 
pearance of, 44, 188 ; New York 
residence, 48 ; family of, 58, 59 ; 
Philadelphia residence, 108 ; 
Philadelphia friends, log, 149; 
opinion of Rittenhouse, no, 
III ; account of yellow-fever, 
113; in Germantown, 115, 116; 
letter to Mrs. Bingham, 147, 
148 ; at Stenton, 162, 164, 165 ; 
interest in Federal City, 172, 
i73i 177; criticized by Mrs. 
Adams, 183 ; elected President 
of the United States, 185, 187 ; 
cabinet of, 193, 194; informality 
of administration, 188-191, 202. 

Jenifer, Daniel, 163. 

Johnson, Governor Nathaniel, of 
Carolina, 329, 330. 

Juliana Library, of Lancaster, 
17, 18.J 

K 

Keith, Charles P., 84. 
Keith, Sir William, 14. 



278 



INDEX 



Kemble, Frances Anne (Mrs. 
Pierce Butler), 152, 227, 250, 261 ; 
charming story of, 248. 

Key, Francis Scott, and " Star 
Spangled Banner," 187. 

King, Mr. and Mrs. Rufus, 44, 45. 

King, William, Governor of 
Maine, 45. 

Knox, General Henry, appear- 
ance of, 44 ; Secretary of War, 
45, 49 ; in New York, 56 ; in 
Philadelphia, 114, 155 ; in Ger- 
mantown, 117, 225. 

Knox, Mrs. Henry, 56, 57, 104. 

Kosciusko, Thaddeus, at Stenton, 
166. 



Lafayette, Marquis de, in Amer- 
ica, 100, 130, 133 ; at Du Pont 
wedding, 227. 

Lafayette, Marquise de, 63. 

Langdon, Colonel and Mrs. John, 
127. 

Lansdowne, Marquess of, friend 
of the Binghams, 138 ; portrait 
of Washington painted for, 139, 
140, 223 ; estimate of Washing- 
ton, 140. 

Lansdowne, owned by John 
Penn, 120; by Binghams, 138, 
141. 

Law, Mrs. Thomas, marriage, 
174, 201 ; portrait by Stuart, 201, 
225. • 

Law, Thomas, builds in Wash- 
ington, 174, 175; marries Miss 
Custis, 201 ; characteristics, 202. 

Lear, Tobias, private secretary 
to AVashington, 40, 96, 114, 

Lee, Arthur, 133. 

Lee, General Henry, 225. 

Leeds, Duchess of (Miss Caton), 
60. 

Leidy, Dr. Joseph, 257, 258. 

L'Enfant, Pierre Charles, plan 
for Washington City, 172, 176- 
178 ; beauty of design, 177, 179. 



Leslie, Eliza, authoress, 265. 
Lewis, Mrs. Lawrence, 156, 182, 

201, 225. 
Lewis, 'William D., 247. 
Liancourt, 78 (see Due de la 

Rochefoucauld). 
Lincoln, General Benjamin, 124, 

155. 

Lippincott, Mrs. Joshua, 263. 

Liston, Lady, 154, 197, 225. 

Liston, Sir Robert, British Min- 
ister, 154, 197, 225. 

Livingston, Eugene, 264. 

Livingston, Henry Beekman, 133. 

Livingston, Hon. and Mrs. Ed- 
ward, 261. 

Livingston, Governor William, 
63. 

Livingston, Mrs. Robert R., 53, 

99- 

Livingston, Mrs. Walter, 53. 

Livingston, Robert R,, Chan- 
cellor, 43. 

Lloyd, Colonel Edward 111., of 
Maryland, 186. 

Lloyd, Governor Thomas, 27, 
153- 

Lloyd, Hannah, 89. 

Lloyd, Rebecca (Mrs. Joseph H. 
Nicholson), 186. 

Logan, Dr. George, visited by 
Washington, 84, 162, 163 ; friend 
of Jefferson, 164, 165; guests at 
Stenton, 165-167. 

Logan, Hannah, 88. 

Logan, James, secretary to Will- 
iam Penn, 25-27, 88 ; builds 
Stenton, 162. 

Logan, Mrs. George, admires 
■Washington, 82, 162, 163 ; social 
charm, 163-165 ; guests at Sten- 
ton, 165-168. 

Ludlow, Mrs. Israel, 107. 

Luzerne, Chevalier de la, French 
Minister to United States, 120, 
130, 134, 153 ; gives ball on birth 
of Dauphin, 121-127. 

Lyle, James, 79, 105. 



279 



INDEX 



Lyle, Mrs. James (Ann Hamil- McHenry, James, Secretary of 



ton), 105, 141, iSi. 

M 

Maclay, William, criticizes eti- 
quette in New York, 37-39 ; on 
salaries, 41 ; admires Washing- 
ton, 42 ; caustic remarks, 43, 47, 
188 ; on moving capital, 68-70, 

Macomb, Alexander, 49, 52. 

Macomb, Mrs, Alexander, 199, 

Madison, James, in Philadelphia, 
149 ; interested in Federal City, 
^73, 174 ; Secretary of State, 191, 
193 ; President of United States, 
203 ; criticized in War of 1812, 

204, 206. 

Madison, Mrs. James, in Phila- 
delphia, 107, 149; in Washing- 
ton, igo, 199 ; attractions of, 
191 ; drawing-room, 192, 193, 
203, 204, 206, 207 ; courage dur- 
ing War of 1812, 205 ; last days, 

205, 209. 

Makin, Thomas, 28. 

Malbone, Edward Greene, in 
Philadelphia, 211, 213, 228 ; min- 
iatures by, 230, 234. 

Mansion House, 144. 

Marbois, '&3.x\i€, charge d'' affaires, 
75. 134 ; marries Miss Moore, 
153- 

Markoe, Peter, satires of, 137, 143, 

144. 
Marshall, Chief Justice, 97, 193, 

206. 
Marshall, Humphrey, 164. 
Marshall, Mr. and Mrs. James, 

97. 

Martineau, Harriet, in Philadel- 
phia, 250. 

Mason, James M., 208, 262. 

Mason, Mrs. James M. (Miss 
Eliza Chew), 207, 208, 262. 

Masters, Polly (Mrs. Richard 
Penn), 95. 

McCall, Archibald, 76. 

McClenachan, Blair, 117. 



War, 76. 

McKean, Governor Thomas, 76, 
103, 154. 194- 

McKean, Mr. and Mrs. Henry 
Pratt, 256, 257. 

McKean, Sally, 103 (see Mar< 
chioness Yrujo). 

McTavish, British Consul, 60. 

Meade, General George G., 346. 

Meade, George, 136. 

Meade, Mrs. Richard Worsam, 
227. 

Mercer, General Hugh, 215. 

Meredith, Margaret, ig6. 

Meredith, Mrs. Samuel, 98, 132. 

Meredith, Reese, 97. 

Meredith, Samuel, Treasurer of 
the United States, 46, 97, 98; 
entertains Chastellux, 132 ; 
financial aid during Revolu- 
tion, 136, 137. 

Merry, Anthony, British Minis- 
ter in Washington, 190, 191. 

Merry, Mrs. Anthony, 191. 

Mifflin, Governor Thomas, 75, 

125- 

Miles, Edward, 211. 

Mitchell, Dr. S. W^eir, 13. 

Monges, Cora (Mrs. Charles 
Dutilh), 245. 

Monges, Dr., 244. 

Monroe, James, in Germantown, 
115, 116; American Minister in 
London, 191, 193; President of 
the United States, 207. 

Monroe, Mrs. James, in Wash- 
ington, 199, 207, 

Montgomery, Mr. and Mrs. John 
C, miniatures of, 232. 

Montgomery, Mrs. Richard, 57, 

58. 
Montpensier, Due de, in Phila- 

delphia, 158. 
Moore, Elizabeth, marries Barbtf- 

Marbois, 153. 
Moreau, General John Victor, in 

Philadelphia, 160. 



280 



INDEX 



Moreau, Madame, in Philadel- 
phia, i6o, i6i. 

Morgan, Colonel George, 13a. 

Morris, Cadwalader, 136. 

Morris, Elliston Perot, 116. 

Morris, Gouverneur, 136, 179. 

Morris, Hetty (Mrs. James Mar- 
shall), portrait, 97. 

Morris, Lewis, of Morrisania, 
N. Y., 260. 

Morris, Maria (Mrs, Henry 
Nixon), portrait, 97. 

Morris, Mr. and Mrs. George W., 
Mr. Drexel's portraits of, 232. 

Morris, Mrs. Robert, in New 
York, 52 ; friend of Mrs. Wash- 
ington, 96 ; social leader, 130 ; 
at Miss'Willing's wedding, 155. 

Morris, Robert, financier of Re- 
volution, 43, 130, 135, 136 ; on 
choice of capital, 67-69 ; great 
merchant, 72, 136 ; receives por- 
traits of French king and 
queen, 75 ; in Philadelphia, 79, 
134 ; houses of, 95, 96, 131 ; 
friend of Washington, 96 ; in- 
vests in ^Vashington lots, 176. 

Morris, Samuel, Captain of City 
Troop, 116. 

Mott, Dr. Valentine, 264. 

Murray, Charles Augustus, 264. 

Murray, Mrs. Charles Augustus 
(Elizabeth Wadsworth), por- 
trait, 363, 264 ; marriage, 264. 

N 

Nagle, John, 140. 

Napoleon, Louis, marries Char- 
lotte Bonaparte, 245. 

Nemours, Dupont de, at Stenton, 
j66. 

New York, the seat of govern- 
ment, 35-48; social life in, 48- 
66 ; removal of government 
from, 66-69. 

Nicholson, John, 176. 

Nicholson, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph, 
X85-187. 

28 



Nicklin, Mrs. Philip, 161, i6a, 
225. 

Noailles, Vicomte de, in Philadel- 
phia, 129, 133, 149, 152, 155, 158, 
225; founds "Asylum," 146; 
described, 159. 

Norris Deborah (Mrs, Geo. Lo- 
gan), 163, 164. 

Norris, Mary Parker, 163, 

Nuttall, Thomas, 167, 



Orleans, Duke of, in Philadel- 
phia, 155, 158, 225 ; addresses 
Miss W^illing, 155-156. 

Osgood, Mrs. Samuel, New York 
residence of, 47, 49. 

Osgood, Samuel, 47, 49, 65, 136. 

Otis, James, Secretary of State, 
75- 

Otis, Mrs. James, 105. 

Otto, Louis Guillaume, 134. 



Palmer, Mr, and Mrs, William, 

Parkers, at Perot \vedding, 91, 
92. 

Patterson, Mrs. Robert, 60. 

Payne, Lucy (Mrs, Washington), 
191, 192, 

Peale, Angelica (Mrs. Alexander 
Robinson), 214. 

Peale, Charles 'Willson, portraits 
ofi 59> 234; museum of, 80; in 
Philadelphia, 211-213; minia- 
tures, 214. 

Peale, James, miniatures of, 2x1, 
213. 

Peale, Rembrandt, plan for 
Academy of Fine Arts, 2x3. 

Pemberton, James, 85, 88, 89. 

Pendleton, Henry, Chief-Justice 
of Carolina, 130. 

Penn, Hon. Thomas, 17, 18, 

Penn, Gov. John, arrives in 
Pennsylvania, 32, 83 ; coach of, 
8s ; marriage, 94, 120 ; appear- 

Z 



INDEX 



ance, 95 ; owns Lansdowne, 

343. 
Penn, Lady Juliana, endows 

library in Lancaster, 17, 18. 
Penn, Richard, 95. 
Penn, William, proprietary, 25. 
Perot, Elliston, residence of, 73 ; 

wedding, 89-93. 
Perot, John, 73. 
Peter, Mrs. Thomas, 174, 201. 
Peter, Thomas, 174. 
Peters, Judge Richard, country 

seat, 99 ; friend of 'Washington, 

116 ; wit and humor, loi, 149, 

349; in England, 102. 
Peters, Mrs. Richard (Sally 

Robinson), 102. 
Peters, Mr. and Mrs. Richard, 

Jr., 156. 
Peters, Rev. Richard, rector of 

Christ Church and St. Peter's, 

Philadelphia, 16, 17, 35, 27. 
Pettit, Charles, 99. 
Philips, Mr. and Mrs. Henry, 

portraits of, 225. 
Philadelphia, social and religious 

characteristics, 25-26, 29, 30, 81 ; 

intellectual life, 36-28, 109-113 ; 

leading merchants, 71-73 ; seat 

of government, 70, 74-77, 96-99 ; 

theatres in, 78-81, 150-153 ; 

Quaker life, 84-95 ; social life, 

101-108, 118-127, 129-135, 140-146, 

153-162, 335-271; yellow-fever in, 

113-117, 168-171 ; an early art 

centre, 310-228, 231-233. 
Philosophical Society, 109, XI3, 

167. 
Physick, Philip Syng, M.D., 170. 
Pickering, Timothy, 75. 
Ptnckney, Charles C, 46. 
Pleasants, Dr. Samuel, 170. 
Plumsted, Mrs. William, 29. 
Powel, Mrs. Samuel, 134, 135, 181. 
Powel, Samuel, 95, 99, 134. 
Poyntell, William, 212. 
Pratt, Henry, portrait by Stuart, 

72. 



Pratt, Matthew, artist, 72, 311. 
Preble, George Henry, no. 
Priestley, Dr. Joseph, 112. 
Prime, Rufus, 51. 

R 

Randolph, Edmund, Attorney- 
General, 43. 

Randolph, John of Roanoke, 166. 

Randolph, Mrs. Thomas Mann, 
108, 191. 

Rawle, Mrs. 'William, 157. 

Rawle, 'William, 116. 

Redman, Dr. John, 79, 169, 170. 

Reed, General Joseph, 23, 125. 

Reed, Mrs. Joseph, 131. 

Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 216, 317, 
21S. 

Rhett, Colonel 'William, 229, 230. 

Rhoads, Samuel, 83. 

Ridgely, Ann (Mrs. C. I. du Pont), 
227. 

Ridgely, Henry M., 327. 

Ridgway, Jacob, 72, 236, 271. 

Ridgway, John Jacob, 237, 259. 

Ridgway Library, 271. 

Ridgway, Phoebe Ann (see Mrs. 
James Rush), 

Ridgway, Susan, portrait of 
(Mrs. Rhea Barton), 237. 

Rittenhouse, David, first Ameri- 
can astronomer, no, 210, 251 ; 
" Orrery of," in ; draws Mason 
and Dixon's line, 113. 

Roberts, George, describes John 
Penn, 95. 

Robinson, Mr. and Mrs. Mon- 
cure, 247. 

Robinson, Mrs. Alexander, min- 
iatures of, 214. 

Rochambeau, Marquis of, 100, 

"5- 

Rochefoucauld- Liancourt, de- 
scribes social life in America, 
77) 78, 94; in Philadelphia, 117, 
149, 158. 

Roosevelt, Isaac, 48. 

Ross, John, 30, 136. 



282 



INDEX 



Rotch, Mrs. Thomas (Susan 
Ridgway), 251. 

Rumsey, Colonel Charles, igg. 

Rush, Dr. Benjamin, eminent 
physician and writer, 15, 20, 24, 
75, log, igg ; describes Miss 
Graeme's life abroad, 17-ig ; 
writes of her salon, 20-22, 30 ; 
engaged to Sarah Eve, 32-34 ; 
marries Miss Stockton, 34 ; de- 
scribes ball on Dauphin's birth- 
day, 121-127; treatment of yel- 
low-fever, 168, 170 ; sons of, 238. 

Rush, Betsy, 32. 

Rush, Dr. James, parentage, 238 ; 
character and attainments, 238, 

239. 255 ; Philadelphia resi- 
dences, 243, 255-257 ; records 
dates of entertainments, 245, 
246; friends of, 248, 257, 262; 
travels abroad, 254, 259 ; later 
years, 271. 

Rush, Hon. Richard, 238. 
Rush, Mrs. Benjamin, 34, 123, 
Rush, Mrs. James, salon of, 235, 

240, 271 ; character and tastes, 

236, 238-240, 250-254; early years, 

237, 238 ; criticised, 238, 252 ; 
studies, 239-241, 243 ; appear- 
ance, 241, 251, 25g ; entertain- 
ments, 245, 246, 259-261, 266-268 ; 
Philadelphia residences, 247, 
'49, 255i 256 ; friends, 248, 257, 
263, 264 ; strangers introduced 
to, 249-250 ; position abroad, 
254. 255 ; new home on Chest- 
nut Street, 256, 257 ; pleasant 
traits, 262 ; rules for entertain- 
ing, 265, 26S ; affair of the dia- 
monds, 268-270; death, 271; 
founds Ridgway Library, 271. 

Rush, V^illiam, sculptor, 212. 



Saint Memin, Charles B. J. F., 

artist, 33. 
Salon, the first in America, 13, 

14, 19-22, 24, 30 ; in New York, 



40, 46, 47, 52-58, 63 ; in Philadel- 
phia, 103, 108, iig, 120, 132-135, 
146, 149, 150, 163-167, 235-271 ; in 
Washington, 183-185, 188, 189, 
191-193, 202-204, 208, 20g. 

Sansom, Miss (Mrs. Elliston 
Perot), wedding described, 89-93. 

Sansom, Joseph, spills wine at 
wedding, go. 

Sartain, John, artist, 211. 

Savery, William, 89. 

Schuyler, Betsy (Mrs. A. Hamil- 
ton), 53. 

Schuyler, Catherine, 55, 56. 

Schuyler, General Philip, Sena- 
tor from New York, 45 ; attack 
on house, 55 ; on site for capi- 
tal, 67. 

Schuyler, Margaret, heroism of, 
55- 

Schuyler, Mrs. Philip, patriotism, 
23 ; courage, 54-56. 

Schweinitz, Rev. Louis de, 167. 

Scott, General Winfield, 206. 

Seaton, Mrs. William, 199; de- 
scribes society in Washington, 
203, 204, 207. 

Sedgwick, Theodore, 49. 

Sergeant, Hon. John, 215, 248. 

Sergeant, Jonathan Dickinson, 
213, 214. 

Sergeant, Mrs. John, 248. 

Sergeant, Margaret (Mrs. Geo. 
G. Meade), 246. 

Sergeant, Mrs. Jonathan D. 
(Margaret Spencer), miniature 
of, 214 ; in Princeton, 215. 

Sergeant, William, miniature of, 
213. 

Sharpies, James, 83. 

Shippen, Anne Hume (Mrs. 
Henry B. Livingston), 99. 

Shippen, Dr. William, 99, 133. 

Shippen, Dr. William, the elder, 

25- 
Shippen, Edward, 17. 
Shippen, Elizabeth, 145. 
Shippen, Joseph, 212. 



283 



INDEX 



Shippen, Margaret (Mrs. Bene- 
dict Arnold), iig. 
Shippen, Mrs. Joseph, 29, 30. 
Shippen, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas, 

"5- 

Shippen, Sarah, iig, 236. 

Shoemaker, Mrs. Samuel, on 
Philadelphia during Revolu- 
tion, iig, 120. 

Shoemaker, Samuel, loyalist, 83, 
119. 

Smith, General S., of Maryland, 
220. 

Smith, John, marries Hannah 
Logan, 88, 89. 

Smith, Rev. William, provost of 
College of Philadelphia, 109, 127. 

Smith, Mrs. William S., 45, 56. 

Smith, William, writes ode to 
Dauphin, 127. 

Smith, William S., 45. 

Sowle, Andrew, 29. 

Spencer, Rev. Elihu, 214, 215. 

Sterling, Earl of, W^illiam Alex- 
ander, 66. 

Sterne, Laurence, English au- 
thor, 19. 

Stevens, John, of Hoboken, 220. 

Steuben, Baron, 164, 166. 

Stewart, General W^alter, 79, 117. 

Stockton, Julia (Mrs. Benjamin 
Rush), 34. 

Stockton, Mrs. Richard, 13, 23. 

Stockton, Richard, 244. 

Stockton, Susannah (Mrs. Lewis 
Pintard), 123. 

Strettell, Robert, 26. 

Stuart, Gilbert, portraits by, 97, 
201, 213, 234 ; in Philadelphia, 
211, 221 ; \Vashington portraits, 
140, 221-226 ; in Germantown, 
224-226. 

Stuart, Jane, 225. 

Sully, Thomas, in Philadelphia, 
211,326; portraits by, 227, 234, 
264. 

Survilliers, Comte de, 243 (see 
Joseph Bonaparte). 



Talleyrand, Perigord, 149, 158. 
Tautphceus, Baroness, author of 

" Initials," 198. 
Tayloe, Colonel John, builds 

Octagon House, 206. 
Temple, Augusta (Mrs. William 

Palmer), 50-53. 
Temple, Grenville, 51, 52. 
Temple, Lady, in New York, 49, 

64 ; appearance, 49, 50 ; por- 
traits of, 51, 53 ; in Boston, 129. 
Temple, Sir John, British Con. 

sul. New York residence of, 49 ; 

inherits title, 51 ; portrait of, 

52- 
Temple, Sir Thomas, Governor 

of Nova Scotia, 51. 
Temple, Rev. Thomas, 51. 
Ternant, Chevalier de, 164. 
Thomson, Charles, 27, no. 
Thornton, Dr. William, draws 

plan- for Capitol, 177, 178. 
Tiffany, George, 254. 
Tilghman, Chief-Justice William, 

121. 
Tilghman, Edward, 79, 116, 
Tilly, Count de, 152, 153. 
Tilly, Countess de (Maria Bing> 

ham), 153. 
Todd, Charles Burr, 178. 
Tracy, John, of Newburyport, 

128. 
Trott, Benjamin F., artist, 211, 

234- 
Trumbull, John, artist, 52. 
Trumbull, Jonathan, 49. 
Turner, Joseph, 26. 
Twining, Thomas, describes life 

in Philadelphia, 77, 96, 112, 152, 

153 ; in Washington, 174, 175 ; 

miniature of, 331. 



University of Pennsylvania, 
founding of, 36, 37. 



284 



INDEX 



Van Braam, owns " China Hall," 

331. 

Van Buren, President, at Mrs. 
Rush's, 350. 

Van Dyke, Dorcas M., wedding 
of, 337. 

Van Dyke, Senator from Dela- 
ware, 337. 

Van Ness, Ann Elbertina, 307. 

Van Rensselaer, Euphemia, 364. 

Van Rensselaer, Jeremiah, 47. 

Van Rensselaer, Stephen, 55. 

Vaudreuil, Marquis de, 128, isg. 

Vaughan, John, log, 166. 

Vaux, Richard, 8g. 

Volney, Constantin Francois, 149, 
153. 154. 158. 

W 

Wadsworth, Elizabeth (Mrs. C. 
A. Murray), 263. 

Wadsworth, General James S., 
263. 

Wadsworth, Jeremiah, 49. 

Wadsworth, Mrs. James S. 
(Mary Wharton), portrait of, 
259, 260, 263. 

Walker, Lewis Burd, 145. 

Wallace, Mrs. John Bradford, 
161, 168. 

Wallace, Mrs. John William, 261. 

Walsh, Hon. Robert, 354. 

Wansey, Henry, diary of, 40, 77, 
78, 79. 145- 

Warder, John, 86. 

Warder, Mrs. John, diary of, 77, 
143 ; describes Philadelphia 
Quakers, 85-87 ; describes wed- 
ding of Elliston Perot, 89-92 ; 
remarks on marriage, 93, 94. 

Warren, Mrs. James, 13, 33. 

Warville, Brissot de, describes 
the Hamiltons, 53, 54 ; on Phila- 
delphia life, 77, 85. 

Washington City, laying out of 
Streets, 172-179 ; described by 



visitors, 179-185 ; social and of- 
ficial life in, 187-309. 

Washington, George, President 
of United States, 35, 42, 61, 197, 
309 ; etiquette of administra- 
tion, 35-40 ; salary, 41 ; cabinet, 
43-45 ; New York residences, 
48-49, 53, 53 ; social life in New 
York, 54, 57, 65 ; in New Jersey, 
64; in Philadelphia, 73, 74,81, 
83 ; attends theatre and circus, 
79,80, 105; visits Stenton, 84, 
162, 163 ; Philadelphia resi- 
dence, 95, 96 ; Philadelphia 
friends, 97-101, 146, 155 ; birth- 
night balls, io6-io8, 157 ; letter 
on seal of United States, no ; 
in Germantown, 114-117, 334, 
335 ; celebrates birth of Dau- 
phin, 120, 132, 134 ; portraits of, 
140, 331 ; visited by French 
princes, 158 ; selects site for 
capital, 173 ; interest in plans 
for Capitol, 176, 178 ; Stuart 
paints portraits, 30i, 305, 331, 
224-226 ; Birch makes enamel 
portraits, 332, 223. 

^i^ashington, Judge Bushrod, 330. 

Washington, Mrs. Bushrod, 201. 

Washington, Martha, in New 
York, 35, 39, 65, 85 ; drawing- 
rooms in New York, 40, 46, 47, 
56, 58; grandchildren, 53, 97, 
574 ; appearance, 52, 83, 234 ; in 
Philadelphia, 59, 81, 104, 105, 
114, 118, 323 ; Philadelphia 
friends, 96, 97, 99, 155 ; drawing- 
rooms in Philadelphia, 103, 106, 
108 ; in Germantown, 116, 225 ; 
hospitality of, 182, 201 ; por- 
traits by Stuart, 226. 

Watson, Colonel George, of Bos- 
ton, 51. 

Watson, John, early American 
artist, 311. 

Watson, John F., annalist, 73, 143, 

■Wayne, General Anthony, 46, 
102, 108, 118. 



285 



INDEX 



Webster, Daniel, Washington 
house of, 2og. 

■Weld, Isaac, 107. 

Wellesley, Marchioness of (Miss 
Caton), 60. 

Wellesley, Marquess of, 60. 

Wellington, Duke of, 60, 250. 

Welsh, John, 72. 

Wentworth, Colonel, of Ports- 
mouth, 127. 

West, Benjamin, American por- 
traits by, 29, 211 ; in England, 
21S, 2ig. 

■Wharton, Charles, 73. 

■Wharton, Isaac, 72, 93. 

■Wharton, Mrs. Isaac, 92,93. 

Wharton, Thomas, coach of, 85. 

Wharton, Thomas F., portrait 
of, 242, 258. 

W^hite House, building of, 178. 

White, William, Bishop, 26, 78, 
109. 

Wignell, Thomas, 150, 151. 

Willing, Abigail, admired by 
Louis Philippe, 155, 156. 

Willing, Anne, 135 (see Mrs. 
■William Bingham). 

Willing, Charles, Mayor of Phil- 
adelphia, 25, 29, 30, 135, 145. 

Willing, Elizabeth (Mrs. Will- 
iam Jackson), 144, 155. 

Willing, Elizabeth (Mrs. John 
Jacob Ridgway), 244, 259, 260. 

Willing, James, remarks on 
Philadelphia girls, 234. 

Willing, Mrs. Charles, social 
leader, 29 ; portrait of, 30. 

■Willing, Thomas, the first, 30. 

Willing, Thomas, great mer- 
chant and financier, 72, 79, 146 ; 
in favor of theatre, 79 ; ad- 
vanced money during Revolu- 
tion, 135 ; President of Bank of 
North America, 137 ; house of, 



144; reply to Louis Philippe, 
156. 

Wilson, James, jurist and clas- 
sical scholar, 27, 75, loi, 116, 136. 

Wiltbank, Mrs. (Maria 'Van der 
Burgh), 261. 

■Winthrop, Mrs. Thomas, 52. 

■Wistar, Dr. Caspar, 75, 109 ; 
■Wistaria named for, 167 ; treat- 
ment of yellow-fever, 168, 170. 

■Wister, Charles J., 167. 

■Wister, Sarah Butler, 163. 

■Wister, William Wynne, 224. 

Wolcott, General Oliver, services 
of, 61 ; letters from Philadel- 
phia, 61, 62. 

■Wolcott, Marianne (Mrs. Chaun- 
cey Goodrich), 62. 

Wolcott, Mrs. Oliver, Jr., 62, 149, 
179. 

Wolcott, Oliver, Jr., Secretary of 
Treasury, New 'York residence 
of, 42, 47 ; succeeds Hamilton, 
63 ; in Philadelphia, 76, 103, 149 ; 
in Washington, 179. 

Wood, Thomas, 151, 197. 

■Woolaston, John, artist, 211. 

■Worden, Dana Baillie, describes 
Washington society, 184. 

Wycombe, Lord, 138, 139. 

■Wynkoop, Henry, 47, 68. 



Yarnall, Mordecai, 89. 
■yellow-fever in Philadelphia, 

167-171. 
■Yrujo, Marchioness de, 154, 195, 

226. 
Yrujo, Marquis de Casa, 153, 193, 

194. 



Zenger, John Peter, trial of, 105. 
Zachery, Dr. Lloyd, 36. 



286 



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